WEST  POINT  IN  THE 
EARLY  SIXTIES 


WITH  INCIDENTS  OF  THE  WAR 


BY 

JOSEPH  PEARSON  FARLEY 
U.  S.  ARMY 


TROY,  N.  Y. 

PAFRAETS  BOOK  COMPANY 
1902 


COPYRIGHT  BY 
PAFRAETS  BOOK  COMPANY 


1902.  : , 


J.    B.   LYOM  COMPANY 

PRINTERS    AND     BINDERS 
ALBANY,    N.  Y. 


DEDICATED 

i 

«taJ  TO  THE  GRADUATES   OF  THE   U.    S.    MILITARY  ACADEMY 


"Dead  Upon  the  Field  of  Honor" 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION     -  .....        1 

CHAPTER  I 

PER   ANGUSTA   AD   AUGUSTA   --------19 

CHAPTER  II 

PLEBES  -------____        37 

CHAPTER  III 

LET   THE   PUNISHMENT    FIT   THE    CRIME  57 


CHAPTER  IV 

OUR    INSTRUCTORS ---68 

CHAPTER  V 

THE   WEST   POINT  LIGHT   BATTERY  ------        82 

CHAPTER  VI 

GRADUATED  AND  ASSIGNED      --------      IQO 

CHAPTER  VII 

SIEGE   OF   CHARLESTON    AND   BOMBARDMENT    OF   SUMTER  -          -      1 13 

CHAPTER  VIII 

OFFICERS  IN  QUEST  OF  SPORT  ON  THE  SKIRMISH  LINE     -          -          -126 

CHAPTER  IX 

THE  FINAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  CIVIL   WAR      -----      144 

CHAPTER  X 

DISCIPLINE   AND   READINESS   FOR   WAR      ------      163 

CHAPTER  XL 

WEST    POINT   LIFE  ---------      i8l 

BENNY    HAVENS,   OH!-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -      IQ5 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE. 

CADET   TROOPERS  __--..-      Frontispiece 

WEST  POINT  FROM  SIEGE  BATTERY     ------        5 

MEMORIAL   HALL         .,-*--'.-'--       9 
WEST  POINT  FROM  "  OLD  FORT  PUT."        -----      15 

THE  GATE  OF  THE  HIGHLANDS  -------      19 

DADE'S   MONUMENT     ---------      25 

FLIRTATION  WALK  — "  THE  DANGER  POINT  "     -        -        -        -      33 

CANDIDATES          ----------      37 

CADET   ROOM        ----------45 

SANDWICH   BAG  ---------53 

"  SETTING-UP  "   DRILL          --------      57 

FENCING  AT  WILL       ---------63 

CADET  BATTALION   PARADE          ____-_-      69 

ACADEMIC    BUILDING   ---------75 

GYMNASIUM  —  THAYER'S    STATUE      ------      79 

ARTILLERY  —  IN  BATTERY,  PREPARED  FOR  ACTION       -        -        -      81 
NINTH  BATTERY  OF  FIELD  ARTILLERY         -----      89 

SEA  COAST  BATTERY  ---------      95 

CAVALRY  —  COLUMN  OF  PLATOONS     ------     101 

GUARD   MOUNTING       ---------     105 

DRESS  PARADE — VISIT  OF  CUBAN  TEACHERS     -        -        -        -     109 

BATTERY    C,    FIRST   ARTILLERY  —  FORT    SUMTER    DEMOLISHED. 

"  SWAMP  ANGEL"         __-_-_--     113 
DEER   STAND        ----------     127 

CADETS  AS  INFANTRY  ON  PRACTICE  MARCH        -  145 

CADETS  EQUIPPED  AS  CAVALRY  ON  PRACTICE  MARCH        -        -     147 
MOUNTAIN  GUN   BATTERY  ___-_--     149 

DUTCH  GAP  CANAL,  VA.,  1864  -------     153 

FIELD   EXERCISE  ----------     163 

CONSTRUCTING  HASTY  INTRENCHMENTS     -----     173 

CADET  BARRACKS,  FROM  THE  NORTH    ------     181 

THE  BATTLE  MONUMENT    --------     195 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  writer's  attention  was  lately  attracted  to  the 
photogravure  plates  of  the  Military  Academy 
published  in  annual  reports  of  its  superintend- 
ent, Col.  Albert  L.  Mills,  and  to  those  contained  in 
reports  of  the  Board  of  Visitors  to  that  institution. 
This  suggested  a  possibly  happy  thought,  that  if  he 
could  obtain  the  privilege  of  republishing  these  plates,* 
together  with  certain  others  of  a  similar  kind,  the  whole 
might  be  combined  so  as  to  make  an  acceptable  book. 

It  will  be  clear  to  the  reader,  as  he  progresses,  that 
no  effort  has  been  made  to  write  a  history  of  the  Acad- 
emy and  its  methods;  that  while  some  space  has  been 
devoted  to  the  condition  of  affairs  at  West  Point  dur- 
ing the  early  months  of  the  Civil  War,  the  writer  has 
followed  up  with  a  few  episodes  and  reminiscences  of 
that  war. 

The  pages  of  Boynton's  History  of  West  Point  and 
Cullum's  Biographical  Register  of  the  Graduates  of  the 
United  States  Military  Academy  have  however  been 
turned  over,  to  ascertain  what  matter  contained  therein 
could  properly  be  abridged  and  presented  here  in  the 
form  of  introduction. 

*  The  writer  is  greatly  indebted  to  Colonel  Mills  for  the  use  of 
special  plates,  and  to  Pach  Bros,  of  New  York,  and  Stoddard  of 
Glens  Falls,  as  well  as  to  the  Detroit  Photo.  Co.,  for  copyright 
privileges.  The  campaigning  shown  in  several  plates  is  a  new 
feature  in  the  course  of  instruction  at  the  Academy. 

I 


2  WEST  POINT 

As  shown  by  the  Journal  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, 3  and  4,  Congress,  7,  George  Washing-ton 
inquired,  as  long  ago  as  1793,  "Whether  a  material 
feature  in  the  improvement  of  the  system  of  military 
defense  ought  not  to  be  to  afford  an  opportunity  for 
study  of  those  branches  of  the  art  which  can  scarcely 
ever  be  attained  by  practice  alone."* 

Thomas  Jefferson  further  states:  "That  when  the 
preparation  of  this  (the  above)  message  was  discussed 
in  the  Cabinet,  the  President  mentioned  a  Military 
Academy  as  one  of  the  topics  which  should  be  intro- 
duced, and  that  he  himself  raised  the  objection,  that 
there  was  no  clause  in  the  Constitution  which  warranted 

*  "  What  shall  I  say  of  the  graduates  of  West  Point? 

"  The  records  of  the  War  Department,  the  tablets  in  our  na- 
tional cemeteries,  and  the  tributes  to  the  valor  and  the  patriotism 
of  the  graduates  of  West  Point  found  in  every  American  History 
speak  for  these  men,  who,  doing  everything  and  claiming  little, 
have  led.  instructed,  and  maintained  the  reputation  of  our  Army 
for  a  century." —  General  Alexander  Stuart  Webb. 

"  The  greatest  war  of  modern  times,  after  four  years'  conflict, 
had  sifted  thoroughly  the  military  talent  of  the  land,  the  com- 
manders-in-chief  of  the  opposing  armies  and  the  commanders  of 
every  separate  army  in  the  field  were  graduates  of  this  Academy; 
that  during  this  war  it  gave  the  country  twenty  Federal  army  com- 
manders, thirty-six  corps  and  fifty-four  division  commanders,  all  of 
the  rank  of  major-general,  in  addition  to  a  large  number  of  brigade 
and  regimental  commanders ;  that  the  chiefs  of  the  active  corps  of 
the  general  staff  in  Washington  who  organized  the  great  armies 
of  the  war  were  also  West  Pointers,  and  that  on  the  opposing  side 
a  very  large  majority  of  the  officers  in  chief  command,  as  well  as 
the  President  of  the  Confederate  States,  were  all  educated  at  the 
Academy.  This  condition  of  affairs  was  not  the  result  of  an  initial 
advantage  of  position,  but  the  fruit  of  experience  on  the  battlefields 
of  a  long  and  terrible  struggle." — Report  of  the  Board  of  Visitors 
to  the  U.  S.  Military  Academy,  1901. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

such  an  establishment;  but  nevertheless  the  above 
sentence  was  incorporated  in  the  message  and  was 
again  the  subject  of  special  deliberation." 

The  reply  of  Washington  was,  that  he  would  recom- 
mend nothing  prohibited  by  the  Constitution,  but  if  it 
were  doubtful,  he  was  so  impressed  with  the  necessity 
of  the  measure  that  he  would  refer  it  to  Congress  and 
let  them  decide  for  themselves  whether  the  Constitu- 
tion authorizes  it  or  not.* 

From  this  it  appears  that  Washington  himself  enter- 
tained doubts  respecting  the  constitutionality  of  estab- 
lishing and  maintaining  a  Military  Academy  in  this 
country,  and  it  is  well  known  that  Jefferson  was  equally 
opposed  to  such  institution  for  the  same  reason,  but 
in  the  end  he  gave  active  support  to  legislative  meas- 
ures for  creating  and  afterward  promoting  its  efficiency. 

By  the  Act  of  March  16,  1802,  the  Military  Peace 
Establishment  of  the  United  States  Army  was  fixed. 

The  Act  authorized  the  President  to  organize  and 
establish  a  Corps  of  Engineers,  to  consist  of  five  officers 
and  ten  cadets,  and  provided  that  it  should  be  stat- 
tioned  at  West  Point,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and 
should  constitute  a  Military  Academy.  The  Academy, 
with  ten  cadets  present,  was  formally  opened  July  4th, 
the  year  of  the  Act. 

Subsequent  Acts  of  Congress,  in  1803  and  1808,  au- 
thorized forty  cadets  from  the  artillery,  twenty  from 
the  light  artillery,  one  hundred  from  the  infantry, 

*  It  has  been  ascertained  that  George  Washington  was  the  first 
to  propose  the  creation  and  maintenance  of  a  Military  Academy, 
and  "  the  memory  and  the  name  of  Washington  shall  shed  an 
eternal  glory  on  the  spot." 


4  WEST  POINT 

sixteen  from  the  cavalry,  and  twenty  from  the  riflemen; 
but  few  of  these  were  appointed,  and  no  provision  at 
the  Academy  was  made  for  them.  In  1810  the  Acad- 
emy was  deprived  of  nearly  all  means  of  instruction, 
and  officers  and  cadets  had  difficulty  in  obtaining  their 
pay.  During  1811  and  a  part  of  1812,  although  war 
was  imminent,  the  Academy  was  without  officers  or 
cadets.  To  include  this  time,  seventy-one  cadets  had 
been  graduated;  they  had  entered  without  mental  or 
physical  examination;  at  all  ages,  from  12  to  34,  and 
at  any  time  of  the  year. 

By  Act  of  Congress  of  April  29,  1812,  the  Academy 
was  reorganized.  The  provisions  of  this  Act  established 
the  general  principles  upon  which  the  Military  Acad- 
emy has  since  been  conducted  and  controlled;  a  more 
adequate  corps  of  professors  was  authorized;  a  maxi- 
mum of  two  hundred  and  fifty  cadets  was  fixed,  and 
the  age  and  the  mental  requisites  for  admission  were 
prescribed. 

From  the  date  of  its  establishment  until  August  28, 
1866,  the  superintendents  of  the  Military  Academy 
were  always  selected  from  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  and 
it  was  not  until  Col.  Thomas  G.  Pitcher,  Forty-fourth 
United  States  Infantry,  was  assigned,  under  legislative 
enactment,  to  that  position  in  the  year  1866,  that  the 
original  method  of  selection  was  abrogated.  Col.*  Jona- 
than Williams,  head  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  the  first 
superintendent,  under  date  March  14,  1808,  reported 
that  the  institution  was  in  point  of  fact  first  established 
at  West  Point  in  the  year  1801,  under  direction  of  a 

*  Local  rank  of  Colonel. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

private  citizen  (George  Barren),  at  a  time  however 
when  it  was  a  mere  mathematical  school  for  the  few 
cadets  then  in  service.  The  Act  of  1802  provided  that 
the  Corps  of  Engineers  should  be  stationed  at  West 
Point  and  constitute  a  Military  Academy.  The  Act  of 
Congress  of  April  29,  1812,  laid  the  Military  Academy 
on  a  broader  basis.  Proceedings  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  showed  that  public  sentiment  was 
strongly  and  almost  unanimously  in  favor  of  the  per- 
petuity of  this  method  of  providing  for  future  military 
institutions.  At  this  time  there  was  still  contention  as 
to  the  constitutionality  of  the  institution,  and  motions 
were  made  in  Congress  to  abolish  the  Military  Acad- 
emy, to  pay  off  the  cadets,  and  discharge  them  from 
service.  As  Boynton  remarks,  "  It  is  the  fate  of  every 
institution  of  National  importance,  which  is  created  and 
sustained  by  our  Government,  to  undergo  periodical 
probing  and  investigation,  and  in  this  there  was  no 
escape  for  the  Military  Academy.  Boards  of  whatever 
shade  or  complexion  their  membership  may  have  been 
politically,  have  insensibly  lost  their  predilections  or 
prejudices,  which  have  melted  away  and  have  been 
converted  into  the  strongest  approbation  in  the  cru- 
cibles of  personal  inquiry  and  conscientious  judgment. 
No  institution  in  the  land  has  undergone  such  an  or- 

• 

deal  of  investigations  from  boards  and  congressional 
committees,  and  none  seeks  closer  examination  and 
scrutiny." 

During  the  administration  of  Col.  Jonathan  Wil- 
liams the  number  of  cadets  was  restricted  to  fifty  — 
forty  from  the  artillery  and  ten  from  the  engineers. 


6  WEST  POINT 

Col.  Joseph  G.  Swift  succeeded  Col.  Williams  on  July 
31,  1812,  and  annual  boards  of  visitors  were  at  this 
time  provided  for  by  law.  Under  date  September  4, 

1816,  the  uniform,  worn  to  this  day  by  the  cadets,  was 
prescribed.     Whatever  of  reputation  the  Academy  may 
possess  throughout  our  country  and  abroad  dates  from 
the  advent  of  Brevet  Major  Sylvanus  Thayer,  of  the 
Corps  of  Engineers,  as  its  superintendent,  on  July  28, 

1817.  "  This  officer  held  office  until  relieved  on  July  I, 
1833,  a  period  of  sixteen  years,  and  the  institution  has 
followed  so  exactly  on  the  lines  marked  out  for  it  by 
this    distinguished    officer,  to  the  present  day,  that  it 
requires  an  intimate  knowledge  of  its  inner  workings 
to  discover  changes  incident  to  a  more  modern  system 
of  instruction."     At  that  time  the  cadets  engaged  to 
serve  for  a  period  of  eight  years,  as  they  do  at  present  — 
four  years  as  cadets  and  four  years  as  commissioned 
officers  after  graduation.     Col.  Rene  E.  De  Russy  suc- 
ceeded Colonel  Thayer  on  July  i,  1833,  and  he  again 
was  succeeded  by   Major   Richard   Delafield  on  Sep- 
tember 31,   1838.     Major  Delafield,  as  Boynton   tells 
us,  "  Did  much  to  improve  the  Academy,  being  en- 
dowed with  administrative  abilities  of  a  high  order  and 
an   inflexible    resolution   to   maintain    discipline.      His 
early  efforts  were  directed  toward  defining  and  estab- 
lishing the  boundaries    of    the    public  lands  at  West 
Point,  and  removing  all  unauthorized  individuals  who 
had  settled  thereon."      Until  very  lately,*  and  under 
enactment  of  law,  but  one  cadet  was  appointed  from 
each   congressional    district.      This   law,  dated    March 

*  Since  the  Spanish- American  War. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

I,  1843,  required  that  the  appointee  should  be  a 
bona  fide  resident  of  the  district  from  which  appointed. 
The  President  was  at  the  same  time  empowered  to 
appoint  ten  cadets  annually  at  large,  this  to  provide 
for  the  sons  of  Army  and  Navy  officers  who  had  no 
permanent  residence  or  claims  for  appointment  in  con- 
gressional districts.  The  restrictions  as  to  appoint- 
ments at  large  were  not  mandatory,  but  the  President 
usually  appointed  sons  of  officers  of  the  Army  and 
Navy,  and  particularly  sons  of  officers  who  had  been 
killed  in  battle  or  who  had  died  in  the  service.  "  Major 
Delafield  was  succeeded,  April  15,  1845,  by  Capt.  Henry 
Brewerton,  and  this  officer  greatly  improved  the  Acad- 
emy in  many  ways.  The  brilliant  success  of  the  Ameri- 
can Army  in  Mexico,  untarnished  by  a  single  defeat  or 
doubtful  action,  furnished  convincing  evidence  that  the 
Academy  was  doing  its  work  well  in  the  training  of  its 
officers." 

"  When  the  conflicting  voices  of  partisan  spirits  are 
hushed,  and  the  rancorous  jealousies  of  envious  and 
malignant  disputants  are  consigned  to  oblivion,  pos- 
terity will  gaze  upon  the  pile  of  strange  artillery,  and 
still  stranger-looking  flags,  and  their  mutilated  flag- 
staffs,  deposited  at  the  Military  Academy  in  1849,  and 
read  with  them  these  words  of  the  great  soldier,  Win- 
field  Scott,  Commanding  General  of  the  Army  of  the 
United  States,  '  I  give  it  as  my  fixed  opinion  that  but 
for  our  graduated  cadets  the  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico  might,  and  probably  would,  have 
lasted  four  or  five  years,  with,  in  its  first  half,  more 
defeats  than  victories  falling  to  our  share;  whereas  in 
less  than  two  campaigns  we  conquered  a  great  country 


8  WEST  POINT 

and  a  peace,  without  loss  of  a  single  battle  or  skirmish.' ' 
The  General  further  says: 

"  As  under  Providence  it  is  mainly  to  the  Military 
Academy  that  the  United  States  became  indebted  for 
the  brilliant  achievements  and  other  memorable  vic- 
tories in  the  same  war,  I  have  a  lively  pleasure  in 
tendering  the  seven  trophies  (semi-national)  to  the 
mother  of  so  many  soldiers  and  patriots." 

In  1852  Capt.  and  Brvt.  Col.  Robert  E.  Lee,  who 
had  distinguished  himself  as  aide-de-camp  to  General 
Scott  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  who  later  became  the 
General  Commanding  the  Confederate  Armies  operat- 
ing in  Virginia,  succeeded  Captain  Brewerton  as  super- 
intendent, and  "  under  his  administration  the  course  of 
study  was  changed  by  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War 
to  include  a  period  of  five  instead  of  four  years,  and 
the  new  riding  hall  was  completed.  This  greatly  in- 
creased the  opportunities  for  cavalry  exercise  and  in- 
terest in  this  department." 

Colonel  Lee  was  succeeded  by  Col.  J.  G.  Barnard 
on  April  i,  1855,  Lee  at  the  time  having  been  selected 
by  Jefferson  Davis,  the  then  Secretary  of  War,  as  one 
of  the  colonels  of  the  two  new  cavalry  regiments;  or 
rather,  Colonel  Lee  was  assigned  to  the  Second  Cav- 
alry, this  assignment  being  incident  to  certain  transfers 
in  perfecting  the  new  organizations;  and  this  required 
that  he  should  leave  the  Military  Academy  under  the 
then  existing  regulations,  which  made  it  obligatory  that 
none  other  than  the  officers  of  the  engineers  should 
hold  this  position.  Colonel  Lee  was  assigned  in 
Texas  to  the  command  of  a  larger  number  of  troops 
than  had  ever  before  been  assembled  in  the  United 


INTRODUCTION  9 

States  since  the  Mexican  War;  and  his  experience  with 
this  command,  coupled  with  his  earlier  experience  in 
the  Mexican  War,  stood  him  in  good  stead  when  he 
became  the  Commanding  General  of  the  Confederate 
Army. 

From  Cullum's  Register  of  Graduates,  Vol.  Ill,  the 
following  extracts  have  been  made:  "  I  do  not  think 
we  claim  that  West  Point  can  in  four  years  accom- 
plish miracles  and  utterly  remold  the  character  of  its 
pupils,  but  it  has  in  the  past  and  will  make  in  the  future 
men  more  useful  in  the  details  of  life,  more  reliable  and 
faithful  to  their  trusts,  whether  private  or  public,  and 
more  national  in  their  attributes  and  aspirations,  than 
any  other  system  of  education  hitherto  tried;  and  these 
results  are  cheaply  attained  by  our  national  Military 
Academy."  —  W.  T.  Sherman. 

"  Aside  from  its  value  to  the  graduates  of  the  Mili- 
tary Academy,  as  containing  a  condensed  and  reliable 
summary  of  their  military  and  civil  history  after  gradu- 
ating, it  must  be  a  source  of  just  pride  to  them  to  see 
there  recorded  indisputable  evidence  of  as  much  loyalty 
among  the  alumni  of  our  Alma  Mater  as  can  be  met 
with  among  any  other  class  of  American  citizens. 

"  I  venture  unhesitatingly  to  say  also  that  no  other 
institution  of  learning  in  the  country  has  contributed 
more  to  the  advancement  of  science  and  literature  than 
the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point."  —  G.  H.  Thomas. 

"  It  is  unfortunately  true  that  many  forgot  the  flag 
under  which  they  were  educated,  to  follow  false  gods. 
But  who  were  the  leaders  of  this  treason  but  the  hon- 


10  WEST  POINT 

ored  and  trusted  in  the  land,  filling,  or  who  had  filled, 
the  highest  places  in  the  Government  —  Senators,  Rep- 
resentatives, Members  of  the  Cabinet,  Foreign  Minis- 
ters, Judges  of  United  States  courts,  and  even  those 
who  had  been  elected  by  the  people  to  fill  the  highest 
offices  in  their  gift?  Was  it  then  a  greater  crime  for 
graduates  of  our  national  Academy  to  forsake  their 
country  than  for  the  highest  officials  in  every  branch 
of  the  Government  —  executive,  legislative,  and  judi- 
cial —  who,  from  the  seceding  States,  almost  to  a  man, 
joined  the  Rebel  standard?  " 


"  The  statistics  show  that  the  West  Point  part  of 
the  Army  has  been  by  far  the  most  loyal  branch  of  the 
public  service;  that  nearly  four-fifths*  of  its  graduate 
officers  remained  faithful;  that  one-half  of  those  from 
the  South  stood  firm  by  the  Stars  and  Stripes;  and  in 
the  battles  for  the  Union,  that  one-fifth  of  those  en- 
gaged laid  down  their  lives,  more  than  one-third,  and 
probably  one-half,  were  wounded,  and  the  survivors 
can  point  with  manly  pride  to  their  services  here  re- 
corded for  the  preservation  of  the  Nation. 

"  With  these  facts  stated,  the  Academy  needs  no 
eulogy,  and  can  securely  rest  her  honor  on  her  loyal 
children,  and  her  efficiency  on  her  turbulent  children 
as  well."  —  North  American  Review. 

"  Let  us  take  one  class  as  an  example.  The  class  of 
1841  had  fifty-two  graduates.  Of  these,  twenty-five  are 
dead.  Fourteen  were  killed  in  battle  and  ten  died  in 

*  This  will  be  a  surprise  to  some  readers. 


INTRODUCTION  11 

service.  Forty-three  —  more  than  four-fifths  —  were 
engaged  in  battles.  The  first  one  on  the  class  list  was 
engaged  in  thirteen  important  battles;  the  next  in 
twelve;  the  fifth,  having  served  at  Bull  Run  and  Chan- 
cellorsville,  died  of  wounds;  the  tenth  was  killed  at  the 
battle  of  Molino  del  Rey;  the  eleventh  (Lyon)  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Wilson's  Creek;  the  twelfth  was 
killed  near  Churubusco,  Mexico;  the  thirteenth  died 
at  Vera  Cruz;  the  sixteenth  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Stone  River;  the  twenty-second  died  near  Corinth, 
Miss.,  in  the  Army  pursuing  Beauregard;  the  twenty- 
third  (Brannan)  was  engaged  in  fifteen  battles;  the 
twenty-sixth  (Reynolds)  was  killed  at  Gettysburg;  the 
thirty-third  died  of  wounds  received  at  Molino  del  Rey; 
the  thirty-eighth  died  of  wounds  received  at  Sharps- 
burg;  the  thirty-ninth  was  killed  at  Spottsylvania;  the 
forty-eighth  was  killed  at  Chepultepec;  the  fiftieth  died 
of  wounds  at  Mexico;  the  fifty-second  died  of  wounds 
at  Mexico.  This  class  had  sixteen  generals,  of  whom 
Lyon,  Reynolds,  Wright,  Tower,  and  Brannan  were 
a  part;  two  were  killed  in  the  Rebel  service  —  the 
Garnetts. 

"  I  have  taken  this  class,*  as  an  example,  to  show  both 
what  services  were  rendered  by  the  graduates  of  West 
Point  and  what  admirable  materials  for  history  are  here. 
No  man  can  write  history  of  any  value  without  a  most 
exact  reference  to  events  and  dates;  nor  can  the  history 
of  the  United  States,  in  the  last  sixty  years,  be  written 
well  without  consulting  very  closely  the  records  of 
West  Point."  —  A  veteran  observer. 

*  The  class  of  1841,  as  well  as  the  classes  of  1861,  sustained 
greater  losses  on  the  field  of  battle  than  those  of  any  other  dates. 


12  WEST  POINT 

"  The  Academy  however  had  only  the  cold  shoulder 
of  the  administration  which  in  the  meantime  had  come 
into  power,  and  its  early  years  were  not  very  prosper- 
ous. The  result  of  this  policy  was,  that  when  the 
second  war  with  England  broke  out,  there  were  but 
sixty-five  West  Point  men  in  the  service.  In  the  course 
of  that  war  the  record  of  the  first  two  years  shows  in 
the  Army  little  but  bad  generalship,  blunders,  and  de- 
feats. Americans  however  learn  war  rapidly  in  the 
field,  and  the  last  campaigns  were  more  creditable  to 
our  arms.  In  these  campaigns  West  Point  men  took 
a  conspicuous  part.  Of  those  in  active  service,  one- 
sixth  were  killed,  one-twelfth  were  wounded,  and  one- 
fifth  of  those  who  survived  received  one  or  more  brevets 
for  gallantry  and  meritorious  conduct. 

"  During  the  thirty  years  which  followed  the  close 
of  this  war,  the  officers  of  the  Regular  Army  were  em- 
ployed in  fighting  the  Indians,  a  training  which,  al- 
though useful,  was  yet  very  incomplete.  At  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  five  hundred  graduates 
of  the  Academy  were  in  the  service,  and  many  others 
re-entered  it  from  the  occupations  of  civil  life.  In  this 
war  the  utility  of  military  education  was  strikingly 
proved.  In  less  than  a  year  and  a  half  our  small  Army 
in  Mexico  won  thirty  battles,  took  forty  thousand  pris- 
oners, a  thousand  cannon,  besides  an  immense  amount 
of  small  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  ten  fortified  places, 
and  the  capital  of  the  enemy,  and  acquired  territory 
for  the  country  which  now  yields  every  year  a  revenue 
equal  to  three  times  the  whole  cost  of  the  contest. 
General  Scott,  himself  not  a  West  Point  graduate,  thus 


INTRODUCTION  13 

summed  up  the  lessons  of  this  war:  '  I  give  it  as  my 
fixed  opinion  that  but  for  our  graduated  cadets,  the 
war  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  might,  and 
probably  would,  have  lasted  some  four  or  five  years, 
within  its  first  half  more  defeats  than  victories  falling 
to  our  share.' 

"  These  two  brilliant  campaigns  gave  an  extravagant 
fame  to  the  Military  Academy,  which,  at  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Rebellion,  worked  to  its  injury.  The  people 
expected  impossibilities  of  it.  In  General  Cullum's 
words,  '  The  youthful  graduates,  who  perhaps  had  never 
commanded  a  larger  force  than  a  company,  or  a  bat- 
talion, were  expected  at  once  to  lead  vast  armies  of 
undisciplined  troops  through  unknown  morasses  and 
tangled  wildernesses  to  assured  victory.'  It  was  inevi- 
table that  the  popular  expectation  should  be  disap- 
pointed, and  that  West  Point  should  thereupon  be  as 
extravagantly  decried  as  it  had  been  extravagantly 
lauded.  In  this  reaction  of  public  feeling,  the  fact  that 
the  Rebel  armies  were  led  by  West  Point  men  was 
argued  with  pertinacity  as  an  additional  argument 
against  the  usefulness  of  the  Academy. 

"But  as  the  war  went  on  West  Point  men  steadily 
replaced  the  officers  appointed  from  civil  life  in  the 
higher  commands.  Men  who  before  had  hard  experi- 
ence only  in  petty  war,  learned  with  wonderful  facility 
to  practice  grand  strategy,  and  successfully  conduct 
campaigns  of  unparalleled  difficulty  and  importance. 
Grant  and  Sherman  reached  their  proper  places.  The 
annals  of  the  last  years  of  the  war  justify  General  Cul- 
lum's boast  that  the  '  cost  of  educating  the  whole  of 
the  seceding  graduates  was  not  more  than  was  saved 


14  WEST   POINT 

by  the  military  knowledge  of  loyal  graduates  on  every 
day  of  the  Rebellion.' 

"  The  West  Point  Academy  has  given  the  country 
between  two  and  three  thousand  educated  officers;  has 
procured  for  our  Army  a  world-wide  reputation;  and, 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion,  it  kept  nearly  one- 
half  its  Southern  graduates  loyal  to  their  country;  yet 
it  has  never  received,  in  any  single  year,  an  appropria- 
tion larger  than  is  required  to  maintain  a  squadron  of 
cavalry;  and  has  not  cost  the  country,  from  1802  to  the 
present  time,  a  greater  sum  than  was  spent  in  any 
single  week  of  the  last  years  of  the  Rebellion. 


"  This  leads  us  to  speak  of  the  loyalty  of  West  Point 
graduates.  It  is  a  common  notion  that  they  were  under 
peculiar  obligations  to  the  United  States  Government. 
This  mistake  is  well  exposed  by  General  Cullum,  who 
argues  unanswerably  that  they  were  educated  by  the 
country  for  its  benefit,  and  not  for  their  own;  and  that 
the  event  has  proved  the  economy  of  the  Academy,  even 
in  dollars  and  cents.  This  is  clear  from  a  view  which 
the  author  only  hints  at.  Every  cadet  is  enlisted  to 
serve  four  years  after  graduating.  In  these  four  years, 
most  of  them  —  all  those  in  staff  corps  —  have  respon- 
sibilities and  perform  duties  that  in  commercial  life 
would  command  pay  enough  higher  than  they  receive 
to  amply  compensate  for  the  cost  of  their  education. 
It  is  difficult  to  see  that  the  crime  of  a  Southern  gradu- 
ate, in  rebelling,  is  any  greater  than  that  of  any  other 
Government  official. 


INTRODUCTION  15 

"  But  are  we  not  assuming  a  little  too  much  in  tak- 
ing the  disloyalty  of  West  Point  for  granted?  One  of 
the  saddest  experiences  of  the  war  was  the  observation 
of  the  deep-seated,  firm  conviction  in  the  minds  of  many 
of  the  most  high-minded,  religious  Southern  men  and 
women,  and  growing  from  their  first  consciousness  in 
the  minds  of  their  children,  that  their  cause  was  a 
righteous  one,  and  that  they  were  resisting  an  unholy 
war  of  invasion;  one  of  the  pleasantest  sights  in  a  gen- 
eral view,  but  without  much  comfort  for  our  side,  im- 
mediate or  future,  was  that  of  the  active,  cordial  sym- 
pathy of  the  Southern  women  with  the  men  —  even 
more  general  and  efficient  than  with  us.  The  question 
was  not  brought  home  to  us,  and  it  is  hard  for  us  to 
form  an  idea  of  the  strength  and  suffering  required 
for  a  kindly,  right-minded  man  to  give  up  the  dearest 
ties  of  earth  for  a  point  of  abstract  morality  enveloped 
in  a  thick  cloud  of  casuistry,  and  to  become  a  reproach 
and  an  outcast  in  the  land  of  his  fathers."  —  New  York 
Evening  Post. 

The  following  are  the  superintendents  of  the  United 
States  Military  Academy  with  the  local  rank  of  colonel, 
following  Col.  Robert  E.  Lee:  John  G.  Barnard,  one  and 
one-half  years;  Richard  Delafield,  four  and  one-half 
years;  Peter  G.  T.  Beauregard,  five  days;  Richard  Dela- 
field, one  month;  Alexander  H.  Bowman,  three  and  one- 
fourth  years;  Zealous  B.  Tower,  two  months;  George 
W.  Cullum,  two  years;  Thomas  G.  Pitcher,  five  years; 
Thomas  H.  Ruger,  five  years;  Brig.-Gen.  John  M. 
Schofield,  four  and  one-half  years;  Brig.-Gen.  Oliver 
O.  Howard,  one  and  one-half  years;  Wesley  Merritt, 


16  WEST  POINT 

five  years;  John  G.  Parke,  two  years;  John  M.  Wilson, 
three  and  one-half  years;  Oswald  H.  Ernst,  five  and 
one-half  years,  and  Albert  L.  Mills.* 

No  material  changes  in  the  post  of  West  Point  have 
taken  place  until  within  recent  years.  Under  an  Act 
of  Congress  of  1900  the  Corps  of  Cadets  has  been  con- 
siderably increased  by  the  appointment  of  two  from 
each  State  at  large  and  thirty  from  the  United  States 
at  large.  These,  with  the  increase  coming  under  the 
new  apportionment  of  members  of  Congress,  make  the 
maximum  number  five  hundred  and  eleven. 

The  memorial  hall  and  gymnasium  and  a  new  aca- 
demic building  have  been  completed.  The  old  library 
and  philosophical  academy  has  also  been  entirely  reno- 
vated and  the  whole  building  converted  into  a  new  and 
modern  library.  The  cadet  mess  hall  has  been  enlarged 
by  taking  in  the  officers'  quarters  at  its  north  end  and 
the  officers'  mess  at  the  south  end,  and  some  fourteen 
or  more  sets  of  officers'  quarters  have  been  built. 

Roads  are  now  being  constructed  at  considerable 
expenditure  of  money  and  labor  —  one  from  the  south 
dock  to  the  south  gate  and  guardhouse  direct,  and  an- 
other from  the  Old  Kinsley  House  to  the  site  of  the 
old  cadet  hospital.  On  the  latter  road  new  officers' 
quarters  are  being  built  to  supersede  the  old  sets,  which 
will  be  torn  down  as  rapidly  as  this  work  can  be  done. 

We  have  said  nothing  of  the  professorships,  but  they 
of  course  were  created  to  correspond  with  the  course 
of  study  in  all  the  subjects  taught  at  that  institution; 
and  these  professors,  who  held  prominent  positions, 

*  The  years  are  approximately  correct. 


INTRODUCTION  17 

and  were  in  most  instances  appointed  from  the  Army, 
were  assisted  by  instructors  detailed  for  periods  of  four 
years.  These  instructors  were  all  commissioned  offi- 
cers of  the  Army  and  were  assigned,  upon  the  applica- 
tion of  the  professors  of  the  several  departments,  from 
the  list  of  those  who  had  distinguished  themselves  at 
the  Academy,  or  shown  special  aptitude  in  the  branch 
of  study  for  which  they  were  required. 

During  the  Civil  War  and  the  Spanish-American 
War  the  selections  were,  from  necessity,  less  restricted, 
as  it  was  necessary  to  accommodate  the  assignments  at 
West  Point  to  conform  to  the  contingencies  of  service. 
It  is  well  here  to  note  that  in  spite  of  what  has  been 
said  respecting  the  large  proportion  of  cadets  who  re- 
signed and  went  South  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War,  there  were  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight  cadets 
in  the  battalion  at  the  time;  eighty-six  of  this  number 
were  from  the  Southern  States;  sixty-five  resigned  and 
joined  the  Confederate  Army,  and  twenty-one  remained 
loyal  and  continued  their  studies  in  the  junior  classes 
at  the  Academy. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  authorities,  so  the 
superintendent,  Col.  A.  L.  Mills,  informs  the  writer, 
to  demolish  the  West  Point  Hotel,  and,  Congress  con- 
senting, to  erect  a  new  hotel  at  a  point  near  the  Old 
Kinsley  House  on  the  south  toward  Buttermilk  Falls. 
The  site  of  the  present  hotel  will  be  converted  into  a 
park  and  a  second  trophy  point.  The  present  cadet 
barracks  are  to  be  renovated  and  sinks  and  bathing 
facilities  provided  in  the  basement.  This  will  relieve 
the  area  of  the  old  boiler-house  and  present  sinks.  Ad- 
ditional cadet  barracks  must  be  constructed  and  they 


18  WEST  POINT 

will  be  placed  on  the  line  of  officers'  quarters  north 
from  the  gymnasium.  The  second  academic  building 
will  take  the  place  of  the  old  chapel.  A  new  chapel 
will  be  built  on  the  hillside  in  rear  of  the  gymnasium. 
There  will  also  be  constructed  a  new  and  larger  riding 
hall  on  the  site  of  the  present  riding  hall,  stables,  and 
cavalry  barracks.  New  cavalry  barracks  and  stables, 
also  artillery  barracks  and  stables  will  be  built  at  the 
south  end  of  the  post  against  the  foothills,  and  the 
ground  to  the  east  converted  into  a  new  and  enlarged 
cavalry  and  artillery  drill-ground.  The  old  cavalry 
drill-ground  is  to  be  sodded  over  and  thrown  into  the 
plain.  An  officers'  club  and  mess  building  is  now  be- 
ing constructed  south  of  memorial  hall.  The  Ceme- 
tery has  been  greatly  enlarged  and  the  plan  for  its  im- 
provement, which  is  being  carried  out,  will  make  it 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  attractive  spots  at  the 
point.  For  all  of  the  proposed  measures  an  appropria- 
tion of  five  million  dollars  has  been  made. 


Q  :  ." 
^   Bo 

i  §5 

i  oo 

f?i 

u.  JE 

O    ^3 

H    || 

H  Ig 


CHAPTER  I 
"  PER  ANGUSTA  AD  AUGUSTA" 

OF  the  boys  of  our  day  at  the  Academy,  few,  very 
few,  are  now  living. 

The  others  have  answered  their  final  roll 
call;  and  when  Sherman  so  earnestly  advised  that  all 
officers  of  the  Army  should  see  the  play  "  Shenandoah," 
he  little  realized  how  few  there  were  to  accept  his  ad- 
vice, of  those  best  able  to  appreciate  the  play. 

The  writer's  class  had  certainly  an  eventful  experi- 
ence, and  but  five  remain  to  encore  the  play.  Our  class 
ring  (June,  1861)  bore  inscribed  "  PER  ANGUSTA  AD 
AUGUSTA,"  and  the  design  upon  it  was  even  more  ap- 
propriate than  the  motto. 

Cut  in  sardonyx  from  black  to  white,  the  seal  shows 
an  arm  with  sword  in  hand,  interposed  between  the 
guns  of  a  fort  and  the  flag  they  are  firing  on. 

The  bell  has  rung  up  the  curtain  upon  "  Shenan- 
doah;" the  scene  of  the  first  act  of  mimic  warfare  re- 
veals two  comrades  —  lieutenants  in  the  same  regi- 
ment, classmates  at  West  Point,  always  classmates. 

The  scene  is  laid  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  and  the  men  are  natives  of  opposing  sections 
in  the  coming  strife  —  the  one  from  South  Carolina, 

the  other  from  New  York  State. 

19 


20  WEST   POINT 

The  sound  of  a  distant  shot  startles  the  audience, 
separating,  as  it  does,  for  a  time,  the  young  soldiers, 
and  perhaps  for  a  lesser  time  their  sisters. 

Here  we  have  the  key  to  the  situation;  and  Sherman 
knew  it  right  well,  when  he  sent  us  "  Old  boys  "  "  to 
take  in  the  show." 

For  the  few  of  us  living  that  heard  it,  this  faint 
and  far-off  boom  of  the  gun  fired  against  Sumter  has 
yet  its  reverberations. 

They  are  heard  along  the  highland  passes  of  the  Hud- 
son. They  echo  around  "  Redoubt  Hill,"  against  the 
sides  of  "  Old  Fort  Put.,"  and  thence  roll  onward  and 
upward  to  "  Cro'  Nest's  "  rock-ribbed  height. 

Word  had  come  from  Anderson  — Robert  Ander- 
son, the  hero  of  the  hour  —  that  he  had  defended  Fort 
Sumter  until  his  quarters  were  entirely  burned,  the 
main  gates  destroyed  by  fire,  the  gorge  walls  impaired, 
the  magazine  surrounded  by  flames,  and  his  scanty 
supplies  all  but  exhausted. 

He  accepted  the  terms  of  evacuation  offered  by 
Beauregard  prior  to  the  commencement  of  hostilities, 
and  marched  out  of  the  fort  with  colors  flying  and 
drums  beating,  bringing  away  his  company  property, 
and  saluting  his  flag  with  fifty  guns. 

On  April  13,  1861,  General  Beauregard  wrote:  "Ap- 
prised that  you  desire  the  privilege  of  saluting  your 
flag  on  retiring,  I  cheerfully  concede  it,  in  consideration 
of  the  gallantry  with  which  you  have  defended  the 
place  under  your  charge." 

To  those  of  us  who  were  close  observers  (as  cadets 
ever  are)  of  our  officer-instructors  at  the  Academy  — 


"  PER  ANGUSTA  AD  AUGUSTA"  21 

men  who  in  earlier  years  had  led  the  columns  of  as- 
sault up  the  Heights  of  Chapultepec,  and  drawn  sword 
on  the  fields  of  Buena  Vista,  Molino  del  Rey,  and  Palo 
Alto  —  evidence  of  their  distress  was  not  wanting  in  this 
hour  of  our  country's  peril. 

The  June  class  of  1861,  which  reported  at  the  Mili- 
tary Academy  in  1857,  one  hundred  and  eight  strong, 
musters  on  the  Army  list  to-day  but  five.  Of  the  miss- 
ing through  forty  years  or  more,  the  record  is  incom- 
plete; of  others  we  here  shall  speak. 

O'Rorke,  the  leader  of  the  class,  and  Custer,  the  last 
of  scholastic  file-closers,  each  killed  at  the  head  of 
his  regiment  upon  the  field  of  battle  —  the  former  cut 
down  in  early  youth  at  Gettysburg,  and  the  latter  mas- 
sacred, together  with  seven  hundred  of  his  white-horse 
troopers  at  Little  Big  Horn  River,  Montana.* 

"  Custer,  ever  at  the  head  of  his  regiment,"  and 
Custer  (without  disparagement)  "  ever  at  the  foot  of 
his  class."  Of  O'Rorke,  more  anon.  But  let  us  for 
a  moment  examine  into  this  phenomenal  scholastic  per- 
formance of  Cadet  Custer,  leading  the  "  immortals " 

*  A  horse  known  as  Comanche,  the  only  survivor  of  the  bloody 
tragedy  of  the  Little  Big  Horn,  June  25,  1876,  received  kind  treat- 
ment from  every  member  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry  to  the  end  of  his 
life. 

The  commanding  officer  of  "  Company  L "  was  directed  by  regi- 
mental orders  to  see  that  "  a  special  and  comfortable  stall  was  fit- 
ted up  for  him,  and  that  he  should  not  be  ridden  by  any  person 
whatever,  under  any  circumstances,  nor  be  put  to  any  kind  of  work." 

Upon  all  occasions  of  ceremony  (of  mounted  regimental  forma- 
tion), "Comanche,"  saddled,  bridled,  and  draped  in  mourning,  was 
led  by  a  mounted  trooper  of  "  Company  I "  and  paraded  with  the 
regiment. 


22  WEST  POINT 

in  a  class  of  one  hundred  —  again  of  eighty,  of  sixty, 
then  of  fifty,  and  finally  marker  of  a  class  graduating 
with  but  thirty-four  members. 

Glorious  old  boy!  Dare-devil  of  the  class!  How 
well  did  you  hang  on  to  the  tail  end  —  always  ahead 
of  the  deficients, —  foot  of  a  class  of  thirty-four  and  head 
of  a  class  of  seventy-four. 

This  reminds  us  of  dear  "  Old  Michie,"  himself  an 
honor  man,  but  one  who  always  made  light  of  "  class 
standing."  "  How  is  Dennis  getting  along?  "  "  Very 
well;  very  well;  head  in  football,"  was  the  professor's 
usual  reply.  "  Dennis  Mahan  Michie,"  the  younger  of 
his  two  promising  sons,  both  dead  in  the  same  year, 
and  nothing  left  for  the  father  but  the  deep  and  heart- 
felt sympathy  of  every  living  graduate  of  our  Alma 
Mater,  of  every  officer  of  the  United  States  Army. 
One  more  "  dead  upon  the  field  of  honor." 

"  In  athletics  Dennis  Michie's  enthusiasm  knew  no 
bounds;  he  introduced  football  into  the  Military  and 
Naval  Academies,  and  trained  up  an  awkward  team 
until  it  could  defeat  the  team  of  the  sister  Academy  at 
Annapolis." 

In  the  period  of  which  we  write,  so  memorable  in 
our  country's  history,  it  was  presumed  that  our  class 
would  graduate  with  fifty-six  members;  but  before 
many  months  —  nay;  we  may  say,  weeks  —  had  elapsed 
(reckoning  from  the  first  month  of  1861)  twenty-two 
of  this  number  had  responded  to  the  call  from  home: 
"  Prepare  to  resign !  Resign !  A  commission  awaits 


"  PER  ANGUSTA  AD  AUGUSTA"  23 

you  in  the  Confederate  Army.  First  come,  first 
served." 

Ropes,  of  Massachusetts,  an  impartial  historian,  and 
among  the  first  of  military  writers,  enunciates  this  prin- 
ciple. We  do  not  quote  him  literally,  but  in  words  to 
this  effect: 

Should  a  Virginian  find  himself  in  accord  with 
action  taken  by  the  authorities  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina,  a  State,  we  shall  say,  already  "  out  of  the 
Union,"  he  could  not  enlist  with  the  forces  of  that 
seceded  State,  his  own  State  being  as  yet  in  the  Union, 
without  deservedly  being  classed  a  traitor.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  his  own  State  had  severed  her  bond  with 
the  Union  and  he,  with  others,  had  been  an  earnest 
Unionist,  with  efforts  against  secession  unavailing, 
then  honor  and  duty  should  compel  him  to  cast  in  his 
lot  with  his  own  State. 

This  same  view  was  maintained  by  the  instructor  in 
law  at  the  Academy,  one  who  himself  hailed  from  the 
far  South.  He  did  not  however  practice  what  he 
preached;  since,  in  spite  of  all  his  teachings,  he  re- 
mained throughout  the  war  a  loyal  man,  and  was  justly 
awarded  the  highest  honor,  that  of  Chief  of  his  Corps. 

But  all  this  is  changed  now.  The  oath  administered 
to  the  cadets,  and  with  great  impressiveness,  has  in  it 
the  ring  of  "  The  Union  right  or  zvrong."* 

*  "  I,  A.  B.,  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  will  support  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  and  bear  true  allegiance  to  the  National 
Government ;  that  I  will  maintain  and  defend  the  sovereignty  of 
the  United  States,  paramount  to  any  and  all  allegiance,  sovereignty, 
or  fealty  I  may  owe  to  any  State,  county,  or  country  whatsoever; 
and  that  I  will  at  all  times  obey  the  legal  orders  of  my  superior  offi- 


24  WEST   POINT 

Word  came  to  the  Military  Academy  that  commis- 
sions in  the  Confederate  Army  awaited  all  boys  from 
the  South.  The  writer's  roommate  and  classmate,  a 
cadet  from  the  same  State  (Louisiana)  as  the  then 
superintendent,  Beauregard,*  visited  the  Major  for 
counsel  and  advice.  This  man  whom  Fate  had  decreed 
to  receive  the  sword  of  Anderson,  and  the  surrender 
of  Sumter,  a  man  destined  to  become  a  prominent 
leader  in  the  Confederate  cause,  hesitated  to  advise  the 
young  men  from  the  South  further  than  to  suggest 
that  so  long  as  he  himself  remained  in  the  Regular 
Army  of  the  United  States  he  thought  they  should  all 
do  so. 

For  many  years  it  was  a  custom  at  the  Military  Acad- 
emy when  cadets  severed  relations  with  the  institution 
after  failure  at  an  examination,  or  resigned  for  proper 
cause,  for  the  first  captain  of  the  Corps,  the  cadet  in 
charge  of  the  battalion  during  meal  hour  in  the  mess 
hall,  to  grant  to  the  departing  cadets  permission  to 
bring  the  battalion  to  attention  for  parting  words. 

At  this  special  hour  in  our  country's  history,  of  which 
we  write,  the  practice  had  a  deeper  significance  than 
ever  before;  we  may  thus  instance  one  of  many  similar 
cases,  that  of  the  first  sergeant  of  "  A "  Company, 
prospective  first  captain  of  the  Corps  of  Cadets.  His 
voice  rang  out  clear  and  strong:  "  Battalion,  attention! 
Good-bye,  boys!  God  bless  you  all!"  His  citizen's 

cers,  and  the  rules  and  articles  governing  the  armies  of  the  United 
States." 

*  Appointed  superintendent,  January  23,  1861,  by  Secretary  of 
War  Floyd  and  relieved  five  days  thereafter  by  Secretary  of  War 
Holt. 


"  PER  ANGUSTA  AD  AUGUSTA"  25 

attire  warned  us  that  he  was  about  to  leave  the  post, 
and  upon  permission  being  granted,  the  members  of 
his  class  bore  him  upon  their  shoulders  to  the  old  south 
dock,  where  the  final  parting  scene  from  this  man,  our 
favorite  classmate,  was  one  never  to  be  forgotten.  This 
was  the  first  instance  of  a  Southern  boy  leaving  for 
home  —  in  this  case,  far  away  in  southern  Alabama,  to 
cast  in  his  lot  with  his  State  and  against  the  Union. 

His  classmates  retraced  their  steps  from  wharf  to 
plain,  each  one  grimly  pondering  on  what  remained  in 
store  for  him. 

Experience  had  taught  that  the  Regular  Army,  in 
Mexico,  in  Florida,  or  as  the  vanguard  of  civilization 
in  the  far  West,  was  the  fighting  element  of  our  land. 
No  thought  had  at  the  time  been  given  to  the  volun- 
teer auxiliary  yet  to  be,  and  therefore  it  seemed  that 
the  conflict  ahead  promised  to  be  one  of  friend  against 
friend,  classmate  against  classmate.  Between  the  men 
of  the  several  sections  of  the  country  there  was  no 
bitterness  manifest,  nothing  but  expressions  of  sorrow 
and  disappointment. 

There  was  but  one  unfortunate  exception  to  this. 
The  field  music  of  the  guard,  after  having  passed  in 
review  before  the  officer  of  the  day,  struck  up  the  lively 
air  of  "  Yankee  Doodle/'  The  officer  of  the  guard,  a 
cadet  from  the  extreme  southwest  who  had  tendered  his 
resignation,  ordered  the  musicians  to  cease  playing. 

This  action  was  most  bitterly  resented  by  the  men 
from  the  North,  and,  fortunately  for  all,  repudiated  at 
once  by  the  cadets  from  the  South,  who  were  as  yet 
with  us  in  the  ranks. 


26  WEST  POINT 

The  June  class  of  1861  had  many  vicissitudes  during 
its  term  at  the  Academy.  Entering,  as  it  did,  upon  a 
five  years'  course,  inaugurated  in  1854,  the  Secretary 
of  War,  in  October,  1858,  directed  a  change  back  to 
the  four  years'  term.  In  April,  1859,  the  same  author- 
ity again  changed  the  course  to  five  years.  This,  as 
those  will  understand  who  are  familiar  with  the  system 
at  the  Military  Academy,  produced  great  confusion, 
constant  reversals  of  decisions,  and  total  disregard  of 
the  recommendations  of  the  Academic  Board. 

Again,  upon  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion,  the  then 
first  class,  which  had  been  at  the  Academy  four  years 
and  ten  months,  was  graduated  about  two  months  be- 
fore the  expected  time.  This  caused  another  change 
in  the  course  of  studies,  the  junior  class  a  second  time 
returning  from  five  to  a  four-year  limit,  and  graduating 
on  the  date  originally  prescribed  for  the  class  which 
had  been  its  immediate  senior  at  the  Academy.  Thus 
it  was  that  the  course  of  engineering  (civil  and  military), 
law,  and  the  science  of  ordnance  and  gunnery  was  for 
us  restricted  to  exceedingly  narrow  limits. 

At  that  time  there  was  a  decided  and  well-founded 
opinion  that  the  course  of  English  study  should  be  en- 
larged so  as  to  admit  of  the  introduction  of  such  sub- 
jects as  declamation,  composition,  military  law,  moral 
science,  history  of  philosophy,  rhetoric,  and  that  last, 
though  not  least,  there  should  be  included  a  course  of 
logic. 

The  writer  met  Gen.  Samuel  Breck,  of  the  Adju- 
tant-General's Department,  a  short  time  ago,  and 
learned  from  him  that  nothing  had  ever  given  him 


"  PER  ANGUSTA  AD  AUGUSTA"  27 

more  satisfaction  than  the  instruction  of  the  two  gradu- 
ating classes  of  1861  in  the  before-mentioned  subjects, 
profitable  alike  to  himself  and  to  the  cadets.  A  singu- 
lar feature  in  the  course  of  logic,  and  one  worthy  of 
remark,  was  the  manner  in  which  the  class  appeared  to 
undergo  a  sort  of  bouleversement,  men  high  up  in  the 
first  section  in  all  other  ethical  subjects  passing  by 
transfer  to  the  "  immortals."  . 

And  now  a  word  for  moral  science;  an  amusing  inci- 
dent of  the  course.  Cadet  Dimick,  having  entered  the 
recitation-room  with  his  section  and  before  the  arrival 
of  the  instructor,  proceeded  forthwith  to  use  his  text- 
book as  a  football,  shouting  as  he  did  so,  "  The  virtues 
are  what  we  are,  the  duties  are  what  we  do;  what  we 
are  is  more  important  than  what  we  do.  Therefore 
the  virtues  are  more  important  than  the  duties."  All 
this  with  resultant  smashing  of  a  window  pane  at  the 
moment  when  the  instructor  entered.  "  Mr.  Dimick," 
this  officer  said,  "  make  it  your  duty  to  pick  up  that 
glass,"  and  when  this  feat  had  been  successfully  per- 
formed, "  Now,  sir,"  he  said,  "  go  to  the  blackboard 
and  discuss  the  subject  of  virtue."  Unmindful  of  the 
distinction  between  tactical  and  moral  instructors,  the 
order,  "  Go  to  your  quarters  in  arrest,  Mr.  Dimick," 
was  anticipated,  the  usual  reproof  for  pranks  of  this 
kind. 

As  indicative  of  the  conditions  existing  throughout 
the  country  at  the  period  of  which  we  write,  the  class 
which  had  been  graduated  early  in  May,  1861,  when 
purchasing  side  arms  and  revolvers  in  New  York  city, 
excited  so  much  distrust  and  suspicion  that  these  men, 


28  WEST  POINT 

about  to  be  commissioned  as  officers  of  the  Regular 
Army,  while  en  route  to  Washington  City,  were  ar- 
rested at  the  Philadelphia  depot,  and  marched  before 
a  civil  magistrate. 

Of  the  succeeding  class,  but  five  from  the  South 
remained  at  the  Academy  to  graduate  in  June.  Twenty- 
two  from  that  section  of  the  country  had  previously 
resigned  in  order  to  secure  commissions  in  the  Con- 
federate Army,  and  of  the  graduated  members  from  the 
South,  three  later  on  resigned  and  joined  the  Con- 
federacy. 


The  color  sergeant  of  the  Cadet  Battalion  at  the 
V.  M.  I.,  Lexington,  Va.,  "The  West  Point  of  the 
South,"  answers  at  roll  calls,  "  Dead  on  the  field  of 
honor,"*  for  the  names  of  certain  absentees.  This 
custom  will,  it  is  greatly  to  be  hoped,  continue  so  long 
as  the  institution  is  maintained. 

The  Confederate  Army,  engaged  at  New  Market,  in 
the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah  by  Sheridan,  had  been 
reinforced  by  the  Virginia  Military  Institute  Battalion 

*  Theophile  Carot  de  la  Tour  d'Auvergne:  The  first  grenadier  of 
France;  died,  when  serving  in  the  army  under  Moreau,  pierced 
through  the  heart  by  a  lance  at  the  siege  of  Oberhausen.  Each 
soldier  contributed  one  day's  pay  to  purchase  a  silver  urn  in  which 
his  heart  was  inclosed.  At  every  roll  call  the  soldier  carrying  the 
urn  answered,  "  Mort  au  champ  d'honneur,"  when  the  hero's  name 
was  called. 

A  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory  by  General  Moreau, 
and  a  bronze  statue  stands  for  his  memory  in  Carhaix,  Finisterre. 
The  urn  containing  his  heart  was  first  deposited  in  the  Pantheon, 
but  later  was  adjudged  to  the  family  of  Kersaize  who  claimed  it. 


"  PER  ANGUSTA  AD  AUGUSTA"  29 

of  striplings,  and,  as  incident  to  the  condition  of  the 
times,  far  below  the  usual  age.  Several  of  their  num- 
ber were  killed  in  action,  and  this  corps  of  boy  soldiers 
will  for  all  time  treasure  the  names  of  their  dead  as  a 
sacred  heritage. 

This  is  a  story  of  West  Point,  but  it  is  also  a  story 
of  the  young  soldiers  of  our  Republic.  And  we  are 
glad  to  know  that  the  school,  which  is  the  pride  of  the 
Virginian,  the  pride  of  the  South,  has  been  designated 
"  The  West  Point  of  the  South." 

May  that  school  in  the  far-away  Shenandoah  Valley 
go  on  with  its  good  work;  and  since  the  Military  Acad- 
emy proper  falls  short  in  supplying  the  necessary  com- 
missioned officers  for  our  Army,  West  Point  looks  to 
the  "  V.  M.  I."  for  assistance.  Glad  indeed  are  we 
all  to  find  a  large  representation  of  graduates  of  this 
our  sister  Academy*  among  the  commissioned  officers 
of  the  Regular  Army. 

*  The  wounds  left  by  the  great  Civil  War,  incomparably  the  great- 
est war  of  modern  times,  have  healed ;  and  its  memories  are  now 
priceless  heritages  of  honor  alike  to  the  North  and  to  the  South. 
The  devotion,  the  self-sacrifice,  the  steadfast  resolution  and  lofty 
daring,  the  high  devotion  to  the  right  as  each  man  saw  it,  whether 
Northerner  or  Southerner  —  all  these  qualities  of  the  men  and  wo- 
men of  the  early  sixties  now  shine  luminous  and  brilliant  before  our 
eyes,  while  the  mists  of  anger  and  hatred  that  once  dimmed  them 
have  passed  away  forever. 

All  of  us,  North  and  South,  can  glory  alike  in  the  valor  of  the 
men  who  wore  the  blue  and  of  the  men  who  wore  the  gray.  Those 
were  iron  times,  and  only  iron  men  could  fight  to  its  terrible  finish 
the  giant  struggle  between  the  hosts  of  Grant  and  Lee.  To  us  of 
the  present  day,  and  to  our  children  and  children's  children,  the 
valiant  deeds,  the  high  endeavor  and  abnegation  of  self  shown  in 
that  struggle  by  those  who  took  part  therein  will  remain  for  ever- 


30  WEST  POINT 

In  the  course  of  this  writing  reference  has  been  made 
to  O'Rorke'and  Custer,  but  the  names  of  others  who 
were  graduated  from  the  Academy  in  the  early  months 
of  that  eventful  year  in  which  began  our  civil 
strife  dignify  the  pages  of  history.  Cross  at  Franklin, 
Kingsbury  at  Antietam,  Kirby  at  Chancellorsville, 
Hazlett  at  Gettysburg,  McQuesten  at  Opequan,  But- 
ton at  Bermuda  Hundred,  Gushing  at  Gettysburg, 
Woodruff  at  Gettysburg,  Dimick  at  Chancellorsville, 
Brightly  in  the  Wilderness.  "  Dead  (all)  on  the  field 
of  honor." 

dishing  at  Gettysburg!  What  shall  we  say  of  him? 
First,  a  brother  of  Gushing,  of  the  Navy  —  Gushing,  of 
Albemarle  fame.  Thrice  wounded,  and  mortally  so, 
before  he  would  relinquish  command  of  his  battery. 

Of  this  gallant  artillerist  let  his  lieutenant  (now  Major 
Frederick  Fiiger)  speak: 

"  When  the  enemy  was  within  four  hundred  yards 
Battery  '  A '  fired  with  single  charges  of  canister.  At 
that  time  Gushing  was  wounded  in  the  right  shoulder, 
and  within  a  few  seconds  afterward  he  was  wounded 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  abdomen,  a  very  severe  and 
painful  wound.  After  this  he  became  very  ill  and  suf- 
fered frightfully.  In  answer  to  protestations  that  he 
should  leave  the  field,  '  No,'  he  said  '  I  stay  here,  fight 

more  to  mark  the  level  to  which  we  in  our  turn  must  rise  whenever 
the  hour  of  the  Nation's  need  may  come. —  President  Roosevelt. 
********* 
If  ever  the  need  comes  in  the  future  the  past  has  made  abundantly 
evident  the  fact  that  from  this  time  on  Northerner  and  Southerner 
will  in  war  know  only  the  general  desire  to  strive  how  each  can  do 
the  more  effective  service  for  the  flag  of  our  common  country. — 
President  Roosevelt,  Charleston,  S.  C.,  April  9,  1902. 


"PER  ANGUSTA  AD  AUGUSTA"  31 

it  out,  or  die  in  the  attempt.'  When  the  enemy  was 
within  two  hundred  yards  double  and  treble  charges 
of  canister  were  used.  These  charges  opened  immense 
gaps  in  the  Confederate  ranks  as  wide  as  a  company 
front.  Lieutenant  Milne,  who  commanded  the  right 
half  of  the  battery,  was  killed  when  the  enemy  had 
closed  to  within  two  hundred  yards,  and  when  within 
one  hundred  yards  Lieutenant  Gushing  was  shot 
through  the  mouth  and  instantly  killed." 

The  cyclorama  of  Gettysburg,  on  exhibit  for  years 
in  this  country,  recalls  the  scene,  and  has  immortalized 
"  The  Hero  of  Gettysburg,"  the  artist  having  done  well 
when  he  gave  to  Cushing's  battery  "  the  right  of  the 
line,"  "  the  post  of  honor." 

As  our  thoughts  dwell  upon  these  heroes  of  the  Civil 
War  whose  names  are  graven  upon  the  battle  monu- 
ment, let  us  see  what  has  been  done  in  at  least  one 
instance  to  commemorate  the  heroes  of  Indian  Wars. 
Until  late  years  a  cenotaph  of  white  Italian  marble, 
bearing  a  fluted  column  upon  a  square  base,  the  latter 
encircled  with  stars  and  supported  at  the  four  corners 
with  marble  cannon,  stood  upon  a  plateau  on  the  river's 
bank  near  Fort  Knox.  At  this  time  it  stands  in  front 
of,  and  not  far  removed  from,  Memorial  Hal^.  "  Its  col- 
umn is  surmounted  by  an  eagle,  from  whose  beak  a 
wreath  of  laurel  depends  and  entwines  the  column. 

The  single  inscription, 

"  Dade 
and  his  Command  " 

with  names  and  date,  convey  but  little  idea  of  the 
mournful  event  which  this  emblem  commemorates." 


32  WEST  POINT 

The  official  report  of  the  massacre  of  Dade's  com- 
mand shows  that:  "  As  the  Seminole  Indians  in  Florida 
were  reluctant  to  the  proposed  emigration  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  in  February,  1835,  four  companies 
of  artillery  were  sent  from  Fort  Monroe  to  Florida. 
'  C '  of  the  First  Artillery,  to  be  later  mentioned  in 
this  recital,  was  included  in  this  command.  General 
Clinch  had  with  him  at  Fort  Drade,  in  November  of 
the  same  year,  six  hundred  Florida  militia,  and  the  four 
companies  of  artillery. 

"  Osceola,  the  Seminole  Chief,  and  his  followers  gave 
much  trouble  at  this  time,  and  brutally  murdered  a  mail 
carrier,  which  induced  General  Clinch  to  ask  for  more 
troops.  Frazer's  company  of  the  Third  and  Gardner's 
of  the  Second  Artillery,  under  Major  Dade,  of  the 
Fourth  Infantry,  arrived  on  December  23d  at  Tampa, 
Florida,  in  answer  to  the  call  for  more  troops,  and 
started  on  a  march  of  one  hundred  miles  to  join  General 
Clinch  at  Fort  Drade  via  Fort  King.  The  command, 
consisting  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen  officers  and 
men,  was  attacked  at  the  Withlacooche  River,  on  De- 
cember 28th  at  9:30  A.  M.,  by  eight  hundred  Indians 
and  one  hundred  negroes,  and  after  a  desperate  en- 
gagement of  five  hours,  the  entire  command  was  mas- 
sacred save  three  men,  who  were  wounded,  two  of  whom 
effected  their  escape.  On  the  2Qth  of  December,  Gen- 
eral Clinch,  who  was  ignorant  of  the  Dade  massacre, 
started  from  Fort  Drade  with  two  regiments  of  Florida 
militia  and  his  four  companies  of  artillery  and  one  com- 
pany of  the  Fourth  Infantry  for  the  Withlacooche  River. 
In  crossing  the  river  on  December  3ist,  he  was  attacked 


•pctftT'SKr 
*.-*;••  ^fe 


"  PER  ANGUSTA  AD  AUGUSTA"  33 

by  the  same  band  that  had  massacred  Dade  and  his 
command,  and  was  outnumbered  three  to  one.  The 
regular  battalion  sustained  the  brunt  of  the  attack  and 
lost  four  killed  and  fifty-two  wounded. 

"  As  the  term  of  service  of  the  volunteers  had  nearly 
expired,  General  Clinch  determined  to  return  to  Fort 
Drade  on  January  2d,  and  then  it  was  that  he  learned 
of  the  fate  that  had  befallen  Major  Dade's  command. 
'  The  two  officers  last  to  fall  in  Dade's  command 
were  Captain  Gardner  and  Lieutenant  Basinger.  Cap- 
tain Gardner  received  five  shots  before  he  fell.  Lieu- 
tenant Basinger  then  said,  '  Now,  my  boys,  let  us  do 
the  best  we  can;  I  am  the  only  officer  left;'  and  the 
firing  recommenced.  About  half-past  2  o'clock  he 
was  brought  down  by  a  rifle  shot  in  the  thigh,  and  he 
was  afterward  cruelly  murdered  by  a  negro." 

The  Dade  monument  is  the  only  one  at  the  Point 
erected  to  the  memory  of  the  heroes  of  Indian  Wars. 

There  is  no  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  heroes 
of  the  Mexican  War.  The  battle  monument  which 
"tands  at  Trophy  Point  bears  the  names  of  all  officers 
of  the  Regular  Army,  whether  graduates  of  West  Point 
or  not,  and  also  the  names  of  all  enlisted  men  of  the 
Regular  Army  who  were  killed  in  battle  during  the 
Civil  War.  The  contribution  to  the  fund  for  this  latter 
monument  was  restricted  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of 
our  service,  the  contributions  being  graded  according 
to  rank. 

From  Dade's  monument  the  walk  continues  down  to 
Kosciusko's  spring  and  garden,  and  thence  around  the 
3 


34  WEST   POINT 

path,  at  the  base  of  "  Battery  Knox,"  which  leads  to 
"  Flirtation  Walk,"  and  here  let  us  pause,  as  others 
always  do;  'tis  a  point  of  danger. 

"  Peter,"*  do  you  not  recall  a  certain  "  rapid  transit " 
over  the  precipice  at  this  point  to  the  frozen  river 
below,  and  the  perilous  landing,  of  at  least  one  of 
us,  in  the  treetop  at  the  rocky  base?  Who  would 
have  believed  that  we  (the  writer  and  yourself)  should 
be  alive  to-day  to  tell  the  tale;  and  do  you  think, 
"  Peter,"  that  we  have  been  preserved  for  any  worse 
fate? 

You  also  remember,  do  you  not,  "  Peter,"  that 
broken  chain  —  the  chain  that  guards  the  area  —  and 
how  one  of  the  very  same  precipitate  high-flyers  went 
down,  back  somersault,  and  smashed  his  pasteboard  hat 
quite  flat,  with  attendant  and  most  serious  conse- 
quences? 

Do  you  know,  Peter,  that  thirty  years  after  that 
hat-smashing  catastrophe  the  writer  visited  West  Point 
in  company  with  a  friend,  and  pointed  out  to  him  the 
spot  in  front  of  the  tower-room  where  the  chain  gave 
way?  "  One  link  of  that  chain  was  gone,  and  wire 
replaced  the  missing  link." 

"  Peter "  can  better  vouch  for  these  recitals  than 
can,  we  think,  Fitzhugh  Lee,  for  the  story  of  his  acro- 
batic feat.  It  is  said  that,  heading  his  runaway  horse 
for  "  Constitution  Hollow,"  both  horse  and  man  landed, 
top-side  up,  at  its  bottom.  "  Fitz,"  the  first  on  his 
legs  (always  "  landing  on  his  feet "),  thus  addressed 

*"  Peter "  is  not  a  mythical  personage;  he  is  a  distinguished 
officer  of  the  Engineer  Corps  (one  of  the  five),  Col.  Peter  C.  Hains. 


"  PER  ANGUSTA  AD  AUGUSTA"  35 

himself  to  the  crestfallen  animal:  "  Now,  d — n  you,  I 
hope  you've  had  enough." 

The  mare  was  the  Xantippe  of  the  stables,  and 
"  Fitz  "  had  purposely  headed  her  for  the  hollow  "  to 
settle  a  score  "  with  the  old  lady. 

This  story  follows  on  the  lines  of  another,  where 
the  feat  performed  was  that  of  horse  and  man  plunging 
over  the  most  precipitous  bank  on  the  Old  South  Road. 
The  horse,  in  this  case,  cushioned  the  blow  and  his  cadet 
rider  lived  to  tell  the  tale. 

General  Lee  himself  gives  us  this,  and  vouches 
for  its  truth:  "I  remember,  in  my  first  class  year 
at  West  Point,  riding  a  very  vicious  horse  named 
Quaker,  who  was  so  wild  that  his  name  was  not  put 
in  the  list  of  horses  to  be  drawn  for  by  the  first  class 
men,  and  I  remember  that  he  ran  away  with  me  in  a 
charge  on  the  plain  and  jumped  over  the  very  high 
hedge  which  surrounds  the  hotel,  alighting  inside  the 
grounds.  I  have  been  informed  since  that  no  horse 
at  West  Point  has  ever  cleared  that  hedge." 

While  we  are  on  the  lookout  for  true  stories  relating 
to  this  distinguished  soldier,  let  us  see  what  Maj.-Gen. 
John  Gibbon,  U.  S.  A.,  has  to  say*  of  his  meeting 
General  Fitz  Lee,  at  the  McLean  House,  Appomatox 
County,  Va.,  in  April,  1865:  "Going  to  the  door, 
I  found  Gen.  Fitz  Lee  seated  on  his  horse  and  looking, 
as  I  thought,  somewhat  uneasy.  He  had  been  a  cadet 
under  me  at  West  Point,  and  I  had  not  seen  him  for 
years.  As  I  looked  at  him,  a  vision  of  the  past  came 

*  Century  for  May,  1902. 


36  WEST  POINT 

up  before  me,  and  I  could  think  only  of  a  little  rollick- 
ing fellow  dressed  in  cadet  gray,  whose  jolly  songs  and 
gay  spirits  were  the  life  of  his  class.  My  salutation  of 
'Hello,  Fitz!  Get  off  and  come  in,'  seemed  to  put 
him  at  his  ease  at  once,  and  brought  him  to  his  feet. 
He  came  into  the  house  and  told  me  his  story.  Before 
leaving,  with  a  grim  humor,  he  took  from  his  pocket 
a  five-dollar  Confederate  note,  and  writing  across  its 
face,  '  For  Mrs.  Gibbon,  with  the  compliments  of  Fitz 
Lee,'  he  said,  '  Send  that  to  your  wife  and  tell  her  it's 
the  last  cent  I  have  in  the  world.'  " 


CHAPTER   II 
PLEBES 

THERE  are  those  who  know  and  those  who  do  not 
know  that  the  art  of  telling  the  truth  is  one 
high  and  difficult.  The  number  is  very  great 
of  those  who  in  all  sincerity  suppose  it  to  consist  in 
statement  of  fact  —  not  remembering,  the  while,  that 
such  statement  may  perfectly  well  become  quite  other 
than  truth  when  time,  place  and,  we  may  say,  quantity 
are  ill  chosen  or  not  considered.  Few  things,  also,  in 
the  practice  of  the  art,  are  more  satisfactory  than  the 
recollection  of  a  wisely-used  opportunity  to  "  leave  it 
unsaid;  "  but  in  view  of  the  much  that  is  small  as  well 
as  the  much  that  is  great  which  must  be  spoken  of  in 
order  to  bring  our  Alma  Mater  fairly  before  the  memo- 
ries of  those  who  know  her  and  the  imaginations  of 
those  who  do  not,  an  opportunity  like  this,  to  apologize 
for  apparent  trifles,  does  not  seem  one  that  would  be 
best  used  by  leaving  the  apology  unsaid. 

West  Point  jokes,  as  all  should  understand,  are 
natives  of  an  exiguous  territory  —  an  institution  for 
the  education  of  the  young  who,  in  respect  of  their  small 
share  in  the  advantages  of  foreign  travel,  differ  not  at 
all  from  the  home-keeping  youth  alluded  to  by  Valen- 
tine of  Verona.  The  world  at  large  is  not  supplied  with 

37 


38  WEST   POINT 

the  facts  essential  to  the  elucidation  of  these  little  at- 
tempts and  cannot  be  expected  to  understand  or  regard 
them. 

The  writer  has  frequently  been  asked,  "  How  did  you 
happen  to  select  the  military  profession,  and  seek  an 
appointment  to  the  Military  Academy?  " 

In  the  early  fifties  all  things  were  primitive  in  the 
city  of  Washington,  its  population  at  the  time  not 
exceeding  eight  thousand  all  told,  with  but  one  con- 
stable, at  "  The  West  End,"  but  this  one  the  terror  of 
the  boys. 

There  were  two  principal  hand  fire-engines,  the 
"  Union  "  and  the  "  Franklin,"  in  this  section  of  the 
city;  and  the  boys  of  eight  years  and  upward  "  ran  with 
the  engine;  "  the  "  Gumballs  "  with  the  "  Union,"  the 
"  Enders  "  with  the  "  Franklin."  Oh,  ye  mothers!  the 
perils  of  football  of  the  present  day  are  as  naught  to 
the  "  brickbat  contests  "  of  our  day. 

A  skirmish  of  this  kind,  in  rear  of  the  President's 
Mansion,  resulted  in  the  death  of  a  "  Gumball,"  and  this 
had  a  determining  influence  in  making  at  least  one  more 
soldier.  After  following  this  hero  to  the  grave,  the 
writer  remarked  to  his  father,  That  he  should  like  to 
be  buried  in  that  way  —  i.  e.,  with  a  brass  band  and  with 
all  the  "  pride,  pomp,  and  circumstance  of  glorious 
war/'  "  Well,  in  that  case,  my  son,"  the  father  replied, 
"  you  will  have  to  go  to  West  Point." 

This  "  is  easier  said  than  done  "*  in  a  vast  majority  of 
cases,  but  through  the  agency  of  a  family  "  hobby,"  a 
simple  cane,  one  which  had  been  presented  to  the  grand- 

*  See  Chapter,  West  Point  Life. 


PLEBES  39 

father  of  the  writer  by  the  father  of  the  President, 
Franklin  Pierce,  the  boy  was  safely  landed  at  West  Point 
early  in  the  month  of  June,  1857.  Reporting  to  the 
post  adjutant,  he,  with  two  others,  was  assigned  a  room 
in  "  D  "  Company  division,  cadet  barracks,  always 
vacated  in  those  days  by  the  "  old  cadets  "  in  favor  of 
the  newcomers,  the  "  plebes." 

We  were  directed  by  two  very  courteous  young  gentle- 
men to  the  angle  of  barracks,  and  a  certain  room  was 
pointed  out  as  the  one  containing  our  furniture. 

The  greater  portion  of  the  morning  was  consumed  in 
the  transfer  of  this  furniture,  and  just  as  we  were  enjoy- 
ing a  breathing  spell,  an  officer,  presumably  of  the  tac- 
tical department,  entered  and  reproved  us  severely, 
directing  us  to  return  and  carefully  replace  every  article 
we  had  removed  from  his  room. 

It  is  thought  that,  if  the  officer  had  in  this  case 
adopted  the  tactics  of  General  Grant  during  the  Civil 
War,  the  real  offenders  might  have  come  to  grief  and 
the  poor  plebes  have  escaped  from  the  undoing  of  the 
work  they  had  done.  As  the  story  runs,  several  North- 
ern soldiers  were  talking  together  one  day  just  before 
the  advance  on  Corinth.  A  tall,  raw  recruit  stepped  up 
to  them  with  a  bundle  of  soiled  clothes  in  his  hand. 

"  Do  you  know  where  I  could  get  this  washing 
done?  "  he  asked. 

Two  of  the  group  were  practical  jokers.  A  bright 
thought  flashed  into  their  heads,  and,  as  the  sequel 
shows,  unfortunately  found  expression. 

"  Oh,  yes,  we  know!     Just  go  up  there  with  your 


40  WEST   POINT 

bundle,"  pointing  to  the  headquarters  of  General  Grant; 
"  you  will  see  a  short,  stout  man  "  —  describing  the 
General  —  "  who  does  washing.  Take  your  bundle  to 
him." 

The  recruit  thanked  them  and  walked  off  in  the  direc- 
tion indicated. 

He  gained  entrance  to  headquarters,  and  stood  in  the 
General's  presence. 

"  What  can  I  do  for  you?  "  said  General  Grant. 

"  I  was  directed  here  by  a  couple  of  soldiers.  They 
told  me  that  you  did  washing,  and  I  have  a  bundle 
here." 

General  Grant  probably  enjoyed  the  situation,  but  his 
imperturbable  face  did  not  relax.  He  simply  asked  the 
question:  "  Could  you  identify  those  men  again?  " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Very  well;  you  shall  have  the  chance." 

Turning  to  an  orderly,  he  directed  him  to  call  a  guard, 
go  with  the  recruit  to  where  the  jokers  were  standing 
ready  to  enjoy  his  discomfiture,  and  let  him  identify 
them. 

"  Take  the  men  to  the  guardhouse,  give  them  this 
man's  bundle  of  clothing,  and  make  them  wash  it  thor- 
oughly. See  that  the  work  is  well  done." 

The  General  was  obeyed  to  the  letter.* 

To  add  to  the  complexity  of  things  for  that  day,  just 
after  "  call  to  quarters  "  in  the  evening,  the  sentinel 
tapped  on  our  door  and  called  out  "All  right?"  The 
reply  not  being  satisfactory  to  him,  he  opened  the  door 

*  Canadian  Chronicle. 


PLEBES  41 

and  inquired  if  any  one  had  answered  "  All  right?  "  "  I 
did,  sir."  "Who  is  room  orderly?"  "He  is,  sir." 
."  Why  did  he  not  answer? "  "  Because  I  did,  sir." 
"  Why  did  you  answer?  "  "  I  don't  know,  sir."  "  Why 
do  you  not  know?  "  "  I  forgot,  sir."  "  Well,  young 
man,  don't  ever  forget  again."  "  Now,"  said  the  sen- 
tinel, "  I  inquire,  is  it  all  right  in  this  room?  "  "  All 
right,  sir,"  responded  the  room  orderly.  "  What  is  all 
right?  "  "  Everything  is  all  right,  sir."  "  Is  everything 
all  right?  "  "  Yes,  sir."  "  Is  that  basin  all  right?  " 
"No,  sir."  "Is  that  pillow  all  right?"  "No,  sir." 
"  Is  that  candle-box  all  right?  "  "  No,  sir."  "  Do  you 
not  know,  young  man,"  the  sentinel  said,  "  that  the 
rules  and  articles  of  war  require  that  you  should  be  tried 
by  court-martial  and  dismissed  the  service  for  trifling 
with  a  sentinel  on  post  in  this  manner?  In  time  of  war 
the  sentence  would  be  death." 

We  have  been  asked  if  this  "  rubbing-it-in  "  on  the 
plebes  is  usual  at  the  Military  Academy;  and  the  party 
of  inquiring  mind  remarks  that,  if  so,  it  must  have  an 
amazingly  good  effect.  We  are  confirmed  by  his  obser- 
vation in  an  idea  previously  entertained  that  the  chroni- 
cling of  such  episodes,  "  small  beer  "  though  they  be,  is  as 
well  calculated  as  anything  can  be,  to  give  a  true  idea 
of  inside  life  at  West  Point. 

On  the  day  that  the  Corps  of  Cadets  marched  into 
camp,  the  adjutant  brought  the  battalion  to  attention 
in  the  mess  hall  at  the  supper  hour  and  directed  the 
first  class  to  call  at  the  quartermaster's  tent  at  7 
o'clock  to  receive  its  allowance  of  stationery,  and  the 
new  cadets  to  call  at  7:30  p.  M.  for  their  allowance. 


42  WEST  POINT 

We  had  been  well  supplied  with  brooms,  dustpans, 
washbasins,  buckets,  blankets,  etc.,  but  charges  for  these 
articles  were  always  entered  upon  our  passbooks.  This 
time,  and  for  the  first  time,  something  was  to  be  had 
for  nothing  —  an  allowance. 

All  of  us  were  on  hand  at  the  appointed  hour,  and 
besieged  the  quartermaster's  tent  in  force. 

There  was  evidently  something  "  in  the  wind  "  which 
the  "plebes"  neither  understood  nor  appreciated;  the 
sentinels  shouting  vociferously  "  Corporal  of  the  Guard, 
No.  6;  Corporal  of  the  Guard,  No.  7;  Corporal  of 
the  Guard,  No.  8."  The  reason  for  this  became  mani- 
fest so  soon  as  the  sergeant  of  the  guard  appeared  upon 
the  ground  accompanied  by  his  patrol.  "  New  cadets 
fall  in !  "  was  the  command,  and  away  we  were  marched 
as  prisoners  of  war,  but  without  our  allowance  of 
stationery. 

As  this  was  "  the  first  night  in  camp,"  many  of  us 
had  been  treated  to  the  toboggan  process  and  later  on 
in  the  stillness  of  the  midnight  hour  a  tent  here  and 
there  might  be  seen  to  sink  slowly  to  the  ground,  the 
canvas  walls  enshrouding  its  occupants,  who,  like  phan- 
toms in  white  and  pink,  crawled  out  from  under,  as 
does  the  early  worm. 

A  very  unusual  circumstance  occurred  some  days 
after  "  the  first  day  of  the  plebes  on  guard." 

It  was  seen  from  the  sentry  posts,  that  the  cadet  bat- 
talion, in  returning  from  breakfast  at  the  mess  hall,  was 
halted  on  the  cavalry  plain  and  countermarched.  The 
manoeuvre  was  not  understood,  but  later  it  appeared 
that  this  was  done  to  bring  the  rear  rank  of  the  several 
companies  into  the  front  rank,  and  vice  versa. 


PLEBES  43 

The  first  captain,  head  of  his  class,  and  one  of  the 
ablest  scholars  at  the  Academy,  was  nevertheless  a 
most  unpopular  man.  He  had  given  an  order  to  cer- 
tain "  first  class  privates  "  to  stop  swinging  arms,  and 
as  the  order  was  not  obeyed,  he  countermarched  the 
battalion  to  throw  these  "  high  privates "  in  the  rear 
rank. 

As  soon  as  the  companies  wheeled  into  line  in  the 
camp  ground  at  the  point  where  the  battalion  broke 
ranks,  three  cadets  rushed  at  the  first  captain  with 
swords  snatched  from  the  hands  of  first  class  officers, 
and  simultaneously  attacked  him,  the  captain  defend- 
ing himself  but  retreating  as  he  did  so  to  the  guard 
tents,  and  calling  "Turn  out  the  guard;  turn  out  the 
guard."  As  the  captain  was  a  skillful  swordsman,  he 
parried  the  thrusts  of  his  antagonists  and  held  them  off 
until  the  commandant  of  cadets  rushed  in  and  quelled 
the  disturbance. 

No  such  mutiny  as  this  had  ever  before,  or  has  ever 
since,  occurred  at  the  Military  Academy.  The  men 
engaged  in  the  assault  were,  of  course,  dismissed  by 
sentence  of  court-martial;  but,  under  the  then  existing 
state  of  affairs,  were  soon  after  reinstated. 

The  plebe  sentinels  were  so  demoralized  that  they 
failed  to  "  Turn  out  the  guard,"  as  they  should  have 
done.  The  writer  being  of  this  number  was  promised 
trial  by  the  court-martial  convened  to  try  the  principal 
offenders,  but,  fortunately  for  the  plebes,  this  threat 
was  but  a  joke  (something  to  laugh  at  when  we  were 
well  "  out  of  the  woods."  ). 

Men  in  authority  have  said  that  "  hazing  cannot  be 


44  WEST   POINT 

effectually  stamped  out  so  long  as  human  nature  re- 
mains as  it  is."  It  is  clear  however  that  the  present 
superintendent  has  accomplished  more  than  any  of  his 
predecessors  in  this  matter,  since  the  people  of  the 
country  have  been  in  entire  accord  with  him,  and  more 
than  all,  he  has  been  fully  sustained  by  those  high  in 
authority. 

Statutory  provisions  have  in  past  years  been  enacted 
to  check  the  practice  of  hazing  at  the  Academy  at 
Annapolis;  but  of  this  Park  Benjamin,  a  graduate  of 
that  institution,  and  now  a  well-known  writer,  says: 
"  It  essays  to  crush  butterflies  with  the  steam  hammer. 
It  virtually  substitutes  slaughter  for  spanking.  It  is 
of  questionable  constitutionality,  because  it  apparently 
deprives  the  Executive  of  his  reviewing  power,  or  of 
his  power  of  pardoning;  and  for  this  reason,"  he  goes 
on  to  say,  "  President  Cleveland  literally  evaded  it,  by 
refusing  to  dismiss  cadets  convicted  under  it,  and 
restored  them  to  duty  after  a  short  confinement." 

For  those  who  have  been  disposed  to  criticise  the 
administration  of  the  Military  Academy  at  any  time,  we 
must  say,  with  "  Life,""  "  that  its  standards  are  high;  that 
to  speak  the  truth  is  essential  to  comfort  there;  that 
there  is  no  influence  against  religion,  and  that  high 
character  is  as  much  appreciated  there  as  at  any  insti- 
tution in  the  country.  The  question  may  be  asked,  will 
any  detraction  heaped  upon  this  institution  incline 
prudent  parents  to  keep  their  sons  away?  Not  a  bit!  " 
Congressmen  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  the 
selection  of  candidates  for  the  Academy  generally  pre- 
fer at  the  present  day  to  open  wide  the  door  to  all 


PLEBES  45 

comers  under  the  now  quite  general  system  of  competi- 
tive examination,  and  presumably,  weight  should  be, 
if  it  is  not,  given  by  the  examining  boards  to  the  moral 
attributes  of  the  youthful  aspirants,  so  that  the  service 
in  this  way  may  be  provided  with  a  gentlemanly  class 
of  men  —  "  gentlemen  not  so  much  as  respects  wealth 
or  social  pretension,  but  as  regards  that  undeniable 
quality  of  manhood  which  is  the  basis  of  character. 
The  blood  in  a  horse  will  show  itself  even  though  he  is 
hitched  to  a  butcher's  cart;  and  it  will  reveal  itself  in  a 
man,  however  lowly  his  estate."* 

Modification  of  the  rules  of  testimony  at  the  Academy 
has  effected  a  radical  change  of  late  years,  since  the 
cadet  can  now  no  longer  constitute  himself  the  judge 
of  what  question  he  will  or  will  not  answer,  as  was  the 
case  for  so  many  past  years. 

Nor  can  men  under  the  rules  of  military  discipline 
make  for  themselves  regulations  which  they  will  or  will 
not  obey  at  pleasure. 

Indeed,  it  has  been  said  that  the  cadet  defense  for 
hazing,  or  "  bracing  "  more  particularly,  is  that  when 
this  is  done  away  with,  the  military  bearing  of  the  cadet 
cannot  be  preserved. 

The  authorities  of  the  Academy,  on  the  other  hand, 
contend  that  matters  of  this  kind  can  well  be  provided 
for  under  the  military  system  of  the  Academy,  and  for 
this  reason  "they  have  abolished  the  class  organizations 
which  as  an  imperium  in  imperio  tended  to  pervert  that 
unity  of  organization  and  that  directness  of  responsibil- 
ity which  are  essential  to  the  very  idea  of  military  gov- 

*  Editor  of  the  Army  and  Navy  Journal. 


46  WEST  POINT 

eminent."  Even  the  older  graduates  of  the  Academy 
are  brought  into  line,  at  this  hour,  and  agree  that  the 
system  can  no  longer  be  tolerated,  though  many  prac- 
tical jokes  were  in  past  years  enjoyed  by  the  victims, 
quite  as  much  as  by  the  perpetrators.  In  fact  some  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  advocate  a  well-ordered  system  of 
"hazing."  By  way  of  illustration  let  these  remarks  be 
applied  to  guard  duty  or  the  sentinel  as  viewed  from  a 
humorous  as  well  as  serious  standpoint.  The  sentinel 
of  course  always  takes  himself  seriously,  and  is  rarely, 
if  ever,  in  a  joking  mood.  Probably  for  this  reason 
more  than  any  other,  from  the  very  perversity  of  human 
nature  he  is  deviled  —  just  as  we  devil  the  crab,  because 
it  is  our  fun  and  not  the  crab's. 

On  what  line  then  should  we  (all  of  us,  not  even 
excepting  the  investigators  and  lawmakers  themselves) 
expect  the  "  hazing "  of  plebes  at  the  Government 
academies  to  run,  if  not  on  the  line  of  the  sentinel's 
post.  All  of  us,  of  course,  respect  the  flag,  the  Nation's 
ensign.  Then,  why  not  the  sentinel,  the  Nation's  ward? 
And  yet  that  we  do  not,  cannot  be  denied. 

It  is  all  one,  whether  that  sentinel  clad  in  the  uniform 
of  the  United  States  Army  was  shot  down  at  the  gate 
of  deserted  Moultrie  or  whether  the  ensign  halyard  was 
shot  away  from  the  staff  at  Sumter.  In  either  case  the 
insult  was  to  the  Nation  itself,  and  in  either  event  the 
word  comes  back  and  with  no  uncertain  sound,  "  Hands 
off!" 

Why  should  t»he  sentinel  at  the  "  sally  port "  stop  a 
free  and  independent  citizen  and  inquire  his  business? 
"What  business  has  he  with  my  business?"  says  the 


PLEBES  47 

citizen?  "What's  he  here  for  anyhow?  If  he  wants  right- 
ing why  doesn't  he  go  to  the  Philippines  and  get  it? 
Here  everything  is  peace  and  quiet  —  what's  the  use 
of  a  soldier  anyhow  if  he  isn't  where  there's  fighting?  " 

Yes,  this  is  the  usual  remark.  But  what  is  the  real 
essence  of  this  matter?  Does  not  the  civilian  know  he 
has  no  right  whatever  within  the  gate  of  a  military  post? 
He  has  parted  with  his  right  for  a  consideration  —  that, 
namely,  of  being  protected  in  the  enjoyment  of  his 
property  by  the  military.  In  one  instance  it  appeared 
that  the  property  in  question  was  a  number  of  golf 
shoes  and  the  sentinel's  business  to  see  that  no  member 
of  the  club  slipped  away  with  two  pairs  of  shoes,  one 
pair  on  his  feet  and  the  other  in  his  pocket,  leaving  a 
rival  to  go  over  the  course  in  his  stocking  feet.* 

All  are  not  however  ignorant  of  the  uses  and  advan- 
tages of  a  sentinel.  Even  a  verdant  youth  of  but  eight 
summers  sometimes  knows  better  than  the  man  of  larger 
experience.  We  (an  officer  and  a  youth)  are  passing 
a  sentinel's  post  —  down  comes  the  musket  with  a  rat- 
tling present;  the  salute  is  returned.  "  Uncle,"  the  lit- 
tle fellow  inquires,  "  doesn't  that  make  you  feel  very 
proud  ?  " 

Numerous  stories  are  told  of  poor  mortals  dressed 
up  in  soldier  clothes  and  vested  for  the  time  being 
with  authority  to  command  kings  and  potentates  should 
they  trespass  upon  the  sentinel's  prerogatives,  and  here 
is  a  true  story. 

A  son  of  Erin  representing  as  he  did,  for  this  occasion, 
one  of  the  aforesaid  class,  was  serving  as  a  mem- 

*  The  canteen  is  abolished,  but  "  Golf "  still  holds  sway  in  the 
Army. 


48  WEST  POINT 

ber  of  the  guard  at  an  army  post  and  for  the  first 
time.  To  all  challenges  the  answer  came  promptly: 
"  Friend,"  or  "  Friends  with  the  countersign."  All  went 
smoothly  and  according  to  formula  until  a  young  couple 
happened  along,  quite  unused  to  being  addressed  in 
this  summary  way.  No  answer  to  the  challenge.  Again, 
"Who  goes  there?"  Still  no  answer.  "Answer! 
answer!"  yelled  the  sentinel  —  "Say  something!  Say 
frind  or  say  foe,  but  for  God's  sake  say  something!" 

But  how  far  away  from  West  Point  are  we  wander- 
ing and  nothing  as  yet  said  relative  to  the  details  of  the 
guard  system  at  that  post. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  issued  each  day  a  small 
triangular  form  of  note,  the  "  countersign "  and 
"  parole  "  for  the  night;  usually  the  name  of  some  battle 
as  countersign  conjoined  with  that  of  some  hero  of  the 
day,  as  parole.  The  story  as  we  have  it  comes  down 
in  regular  sequence  of  years  and  shows  how  the  ladies 
sometime  possess  themselves  of  family  secrets.  Lieu- 
tenant Washington,  a  tactical  officer  serving  at  the 
Academy,  "  fair,  fat,  and  forty-five,"  met  a  party  of 
young  ladies  "  on  the  old  north  stoop,"  who  requested 
the  Lieutenant  to  inform  them  concerning  the  "  coun- 
tersign "  and  "  parole."  A  messenger  was  dispatched  to 
camp  grounds  \vith  a  note  for  the  officer  of  the  guard, 
but  he  was  intercepted  and  the  note  did  not  reach  its 
destination;  however,  the  usual  form  of  reply  was  pre- 
pared and  dispatched  to  Lieutenant  Washington  and 
passed,  unread  by  him,  to  the  young  ladies  who  in 
silence  but  smilingly  read  —  Countersign,  "Fatted;" 
parole,  "  Calf." 


PLEBES  49 

Let  us  further  consider  the  subject  of  guard  duty 
as  practiced  at  the  Military  Academy.  "  Boning*  stand- 
ing; "  "  Boning  demerit;  "  "  Boning  corporalcy  "  should 
be  understood  if  they  are  not,  but  "  boning  colors " 
requires  eludication.  The  guard  as  "marched  on" 
during  the  summer  encampment  consists  of  three  re- 
liefs  of  eight  men  each,  two  hours  on,  and  four  hours 
off,  for  each  relief.  The  regular  posts  at  the  time  of 
which  we  write  were  eight  in  number,  with  a  color  line 
consisting  of  stacked  muskets  and  the  colors  of  the 
battalion ;  this  line  being  preserved  from  morning  parade 
until  near  the  time  for  evening  parade,  guarded  by  extra 
sentinels,  three  in  number,  posted  alternately. 

These  privileged  members  of  the  guard  had  "  boned 
colors,"  and  their  efforts  were  successful.  Each  day 
the  three  of  the  twenty-seven  members  of  the  privates 
of  the  guard  were  selected  by  the  adjutant,  for  neat 
appearance  and  military  bearing,  after  being  subjected 
to  a  crucial  test.  Failing  to  determine  the  three  merit- 
ing selection  on  appearances,  some  six  or  more  would 
be  ordered  to  "  fall  out,"  by  the  adjutant,  and  be  put 
through  a  severe  ordeal  in  the  manual  of  arms,  wrong 
commands  being  purposely  given  at  intervals.  The 
impulse  to  do  something  at  word  of  command  was 
often  almost  irresistible,  and  men  trembling  with  ex- 
citment  in  their  efforts  to  attain  the  honor  or  privi- 
lege sought  for  on  the  color  guard  would  move,  or  by 
some  slight  motion  start  to  execute  that  which  was  not 
prescribed  in  tactics.  The  three  men  selected  for  the 
color  guard  were  simply  required  to  walk  post  two  or 

*  Striving  for,  or  endeavoring  to  escape  from  a  thing. 
4 


50  WEST  POINT 

three  hours,  and  after  that,  were  treated  as  on  general 
permit,  were  excused  from  all  duty,  and  allowed  to 
range  about  the  post  as  they  pleased. 

Following  the  posting  of  the  regular  sentinels,  orders 
and  instructions  of  a  purposely  complicated  character 
were  given.  How  to  receive  "  Grand  Rounds;  "  how  to 
receive  a  body  of  cavalry  if  friends,  and  how  to  receive 
them  if  enemies;  which  latter  method  consisted  in  flee- 
ing from  one's  post,  firing  one's  piece  and  calling  out 
in  retreat:  "  Turn  out  the  guard!  turn  out  the  guard! 
body  of  the  enemy's  cavalry!  "  If  one  were  a  plebe  and 
a  steamboat  arrived  on  his  post,  in  like  manner  and  in 
all  seriousness  the  officers  of  the  guard  gave  instruc- 
tions as  to  how  it  should  be  received.  If  at  night,  the 
pilot  would  be  required  "  to  dismount  from  the  pilot- 
house and  advance  with  the  countersign."  If  at  some 
other  hour  a  different  method  of  receiving  the  craft  was 
prescribed. 

Now  all  this  may  seem  superfluous,  but  as  the  great 
General  Winfield  Scott  said  before  election  (and  it 
killed  him  politically) :  "  Everything  is  done  with  a 
view  to  soup  "  ("  A  hasty  plate  of  soup  "  is  the  way  the 
Democrats  had  it);  and  these  stories  are  told  for  a 
specific  purpose,  that  of  demonstrating  that  there  is 
more  business  for  the  sentinel,  more  especially  for  the 
plebe  sentinel,  than  the  casual  observer  might  suppose, 
and  none  of  a  plebe  class  can  say,  with  any  degree  of 
truth  after  a  summer  camp  spent  in  the  manner  de- 
scribed, that  he  has  not  seen  active  service. 

If  those  of  a  very  practical  turn  of  mind  should  ask, 
How  can  a  steamboat  traverse  a  sentry  post?  the  query 


PLEBES  51 

can  be  answered  in  a  few  words.  It  is  only  a  theoretical 
steamboat,  a  theoretical  body  of  the  enemy's  cavalry, 
represented  at  one  time,  by  a  new-fledged  "  yearling  " 
just  out  of  plebedom  and  at  another  by  a  dignified  cadet 
officer  who  desires  to  see  if  the  sentinel  can  keep  his  wits 
about  him  and  remember  his  orders.  Remember  his 
orders!  No  sentinel  in  time  of  war,  on  the  very  picket 
line  itself,  has  such  a  stack  of  orders  to  remember  and 
none  are  ever  advanced  upon  by  such  scarecrows  and 
hobgoblins  as  are  the  (excuse  us!),  as  were  the  plebe 
sentinels  of  our  day.  If  gentlemen  who  take  up  arms 
for  a  brief  period,  in  the  service  of  their  country,  were 
put  through  a  course  of  West  Point  guard  duty  for  a 
single  night,  or  better  still,  for  a  single  week,  when  the 
"  Grand  Rounds  "  approaches,  the  order  of  things  would 
never  be  reversed;  in  other  words,  the  sentinel  would 
not  fire  his  piece  first  and  challenge  afterward;  as  many 
well  remember  was  the  case  with  "  the  three  months 
men  "  of  the  early  sixties,  when  officers  "  took  their 
lives  in  their  hands  "  in  making  the  "  Grand  Rounds." 

In  fact,  the  following  story  might  have  been  lost  to 
the  reader  had  it  not  been  for  certain  omissions  in  our 
military  system: 

The  late  Hon.  William  D.  Kelly,  from  Pennsylvania, 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Visitors  of  late  years,  related 
his  experience  in  the  line  of  sentinel  duty. 

His  story  was  told  at  one  of  the  West  Point  alumni 
banquets.  He  "  was  not  used  to  the  Military,"  as  he 
explained,  and  had  been  "  put  on  post "  at  General 
Reynolds's  house  near  Gettysburg,  with  orders  that  if 
any  one  asked  to  see  General  Reynolds,  he  was  to  ascer- 


52  WEST   POINT 

tain  his  name  and  business  and  then  send  the  orderly 
to  tell  the  General  who  the  party  was  desiring  to  see 
him.  Then  (the  instructions  were  explicit),  if  the  Gen- 
eral told  the  orderly  to  return  and  tell  the  sentinel  that 
he  would  see  the  party,  the  sentinel  could  send  the 
party  in. 

The  first  man  who  came  along  was  Governor  Curtin, 
of  Pennsylvania,  who  asked  to  see  General  Reynolds. 
"  Governor  Curtin,"  replied  the  sentinel  (Mr.  Kelly,  as 
he  tells  it),  "  you  cannot  see  the  General  unless  I  send 
the  orderly  to  tell  the  General  you  wish  to  see  him; 
then  if  the  General  tells  the  orderly  to  tell  me  that  you 
can  see  him,  I'll  let  you  in." 

"  Go  ahead,"  says  the  Governor,  "  and  send  the 
orderly." 

"  Orderly,"  said  I  (Sentinel  Kelly  is  speaking),  "  go 
and  tell  General  Reynolds  that  Governor  Curtin  desires 
to  see  him." 

"  I  have  no  orders  to  receive  from  a  d — n  private," 
replied  the  orderly. 

"  Governor  Curtin,  you  cannot  see  the  General,"  said 
the  sentinel.  "Why  not?"  replied  the  Governor. 

"  The  orderly  won't  go." 

"  But  I  must  see  him." 

"  Well,  then,  Governor,  suppose  you  try  your  hand 
on  the  orderly." 

The  orderly  was  sent,  and,  as  Mr.  Kelly  relates,  Gen- 
eral Reynolds  came  to  the  door,  received  the  Governor, 
and  after  a  few  words  they  both  looked  at  the  sentinel; 
the  General  then  addressed  the  officer  of  the  day  with 
this  remark,  "Take  that  d — n  fool  off  that  post!" 


PLEBES  53 

Here  was  a  man  who  did  not  belong  to  the  Regular 
Army.  He  was  simply  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania 
reserves,  called  out  to  repel  invaders  of  his  State;  had 
been  in  the  service  but  one  week,  and  yet,  as  he  said, 
he  saw  more  active  service  in  that  one  tour  of  guard 
duty  than  in  all  the  rest  of  his  service  put  together. 

A  Russian  soldier  posted  by  the  Neva  side  at  the 
season  of  the  annual  river  rising  was  rescued  just  in 
time  —  the  icy  water  was  up  to  his  armpits. 

It  is  not  doubted  that  such  incidents  were  common. 
There  was  in  all  probability  no  little  boy  Casabianca. 
But  what  does  it  matter.  The  number  of  souls  that  the 
story  has  fired  shows  that  it  is  a  true  thing,  fact  or  no. 

One  more  recital  and  the  poor  sentinel  may  then  be 
allowed  to  walk  his  post  in  peace.  This  can  be  vouched 
for.  The  writer  was  passing  the  gate  of  the  National 
Armory  in  Springfield,  Mass.,  in  a  horse  car  with  "  no 
show  of  the  military  "  about  him. 

Two  occupants  of  the  car  were  engaged  in  earnest 
conversation  condemnatory  of  the  introduction  of  sol- 
diers at  that  place.  "Look  there!"  said  one;  "see 
that  big  fellow  coming  down  the  hill  with  another  one 
bringing  him  along;  watch  and  you  will  see  him  leave 
him  and  take  another  one  away,  and  this  thing  is  going 
on  all  the  time  —  every  few  hours.  Now  I  want  ter 
know  what's  the  use  on  it?  Why  can't  those  fellers 
cum  by  th'rsel's  and  go  back  by  th'rsel's  and  save  money 
and  time  in  the  business  —  that's  what  I  wanter  know?  " 
These  intelligent  (?)  citizens  of  the  United  States,  it 
is  apprehended,  had  assisted  in  enacting  the  law  which 
required  that  the  sentinel  should  be  "  duly  posted  "  (and 
in  the  very  manner  objected  to),  so  that  he  might  be 


54  WEST  POINT 

empowered  to  enforce  the  law.  From  which  it  appears 
that  some  persons  may  live  a  whole  lifetime  without 
comprehending  the  use  of  a  sentinel;  whereas,  some 
other  one,  like  the  youth  of  eight  summers  or  the  honor- 
able member  from  Pennsylvania,  may  find  a  solution 
for  this  question  at  the  very  threshold  of  his  military 
career. 

In  late  readings  upon  military  subjects  the  views  and 
opinions  of  military  men,  based  upon  what  may  be 
called  modern  contests,  are  so  much  at  variance  with 
the  ordinary  or  customary  teachings*  that  they  forcibly 
recall  an  interview  had  with  a  sentinel  at  one  of  our 
military  posts  just  after  the  Civil  War.  The  sentinel 
was  an  Italian;  he  had  been  several  times  wounded,  and 
was  maimed,  but  not  to  any  extent  disqualified  for  duty. 

"  I  have  been,"  he  said,  "  five  years  in  the  Army, 
'  Ma  lav  or  i  militari  no  ho  mai  veduto.' ' 

He  had  taken  part  in  the  great  historical  crisis  of 
the  age.  He  had  seen  victory  and  defeat,  battle  and 
sudden  death,  but  lavoro  militare  forsooth  he  had  never 
seen. 

How  many  there  are  who  have  waded  through  the 
pages  of  history;  have  studied  great  campaigns,  and 
have  discussed  the  comparative  merits  of  military  lead- 
ers, and  military  systems,  and  yet  have  never  seen  it, 
never  known  it,  or  never  understood  it  —  lavoro 
militare. 

"  The  Germans,"  says  Sir  Charles  Dilke  in  an  article  on  the 
Armies  of  the  Powers  in  the  April  number  of  "  Munsey's  Magazine," 
"  are  not  a  martial  people.  But  their  perfect  study  and  practice 
of  things  military  make  them  probably  the  most  formidable  fight- 
ing power  of  the  world." 


PLEBES  55 

Presumably  what  this  man  meant,  was  that  he  had 
been  in  battle,  but  it  was  not  done  right. 

The  rules  were  not  followed.  Europe  was  not  taken 
as  a  model.  There  was  victory  but  not  victory  brought 
about  by  faithfulness  to  precedent.  There  was  defeat, 
but  the  performance  was  irregular.  He  had  been 
wounded  many  times,  it  is  true,  but  wounds  have  no 
business  to  be  inflicted  in  such  a  way.  I  grant  you,  he 
seemed  to  say,  a  terrific  struggle  and  results  which 
guide  the  course  of  history.  But  the  whole  thing  was 
a  mere  scramble.  It  was  not  military. 

The  man  had  eyes  and  saw  not  —  ears  and  heard  not. 
"  Multum  reluctans "  he  was  struggling  not  to  be 
dragged  out  of  the  dark  ages  into  the  light  of  the  nine- 
teenth century. 

A  man  like  that  cannot  take  it  in  that  a  set  of  men 
of  one  temper  is  to  be  treated  in  one  way,  and  another 
set  of  another  temper  quite  differently. 

Take  two  stories,  neither  of  which  is  likely  to  be  fact, 
but  none  the  less  on  that  account  true. 

The  Czar  Nicholas  I  was  stopped  by  a  sentinel  on 
post  and  made  to  wait  until  the  corporal  of  the  guard 
came.  The  sentinel  next  morning  was  sent  for  to  the 
palace,  rewarded,  and  promoted.  He  had  obeyed 
orders. 

The  King  of  Prussia,  Frederic  William  II,  was 
stopped  by  a  sentinel  on  post  and  made  to  wait  until 
the  corporal  of  the  guard  came.  The  sentinel  next 
morning  was  sent  for  to  the  palace,  reprimanded,  and 
punished.  A  Prussian  soldier  must  know  his  King  by 
sight. 


56  WEST  POINT 

The  Russian  soldier  is  a  stolid  peasant,  a  mere  mass 
of  matter,  that  has  not  two  consecutive  ideas.  It  is 
as  much  as  ever  if  he  can  understand  the  literal  meaning 
of  an  order  and  all  he  can  do  to  obey  it.  If  once  mo- 
tion be  initiated,  if  he  conceive  the  idea  of  unpunished 
disobedience  in  the  slightest  degree,  the  string  will 
break,  the  beads  be  scattered  all  over  the  place,  the 
whole  army  system  be  disintegrated. 

The  Prussian  soldier  was,  fifty  years  ago,  and  is  now 
to  a  much  more  marked  extent  taken  from  a  class  of  a 
wholly  different  temper.  He  is  held  responsible  for 
mind  and  the  use  of  it. 

Now,  when  all  this  has  been  set  before  the  Italian 
private's  mind,  the  next  thing  is  to  have  him  understand 
(not  so  very  difficult)  and  acknowledge  (a  different 
thing  altogether)  that  the  way  in  which  the  Slav  was 
treated  was  quite  right  and  the  course  pursued  with 
the  Teuton  by  no  means  wrong. 

When  one  reports  to  a  sentinel  "  duly  posted  "  ac- 
cording to  law  and  regulations,  he  reports  to  Congress. 

The  sentinel  is  the  Senate  and  Representatives  of 
the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  not  a  callow 
cadet  or  a  feather-brained  recruit. 

The  soldier  must,  if  he  mean  to  keep  his  oath,  take 
his  life  in  his  hand,  as  well  in  his  sentry  box  and  on 
his  post  as  in  the  powder  smoke  and  under  the  feet  of 
the  trooper's  horse. 

That  story  of  the  Roman  sentry  at  the  gate  of  Pom- 
peii may  not  be  as  much  a  fact  as  a  true  thing,  and  an- 
other true  thing  is  this:  the  sentinel,  be  he  plebe,  old 
cadet,  Congressman,  or  even  the  President  himself,  will 
always  be  bedeviled. 


CHAPTER  III 
"LET  THE  PUNISHMENT  FIT  THE  CRIME" 

PROF.  E.  S.  HOLDEN,  a  graduate  of  the 
United  States  Military  Academy,  in  his  article 
in  the  October*  number  of  the  "  Cosmopoli- 
tan," invites  attention  to  subjects  which,  at  this  time, 
should  be  of  interest  to  the  general  public.  There  are 
two  schools  which  are,  he  tells  us,  "  based  upon  the 
methods  of  nature;"  the  one  at  West  Point  and  the 
other  at  Annapolis.  We  may  not  quote  him  literally, 
but  in  words  to  this  effect: 

After  thousands  upon  thousands  of  experiences,  a 
child  comes  to  recognize  that  the  forces  of  nature  are 
not,  as  at  first  supposed,  capricious  and  unjust  —  not 
capricious,  whatever  else  they  may  be,  but  uniform,  con- 
sistent, inexorable,  and  immediate. 

Where,  if  not  at  the  United  States  Military  Acad- 
emy, the  Professor  inquires,  shall  we  find  a  system  in 
which  the  rewards  and  punishments  are  the  certain  and 
immediate  sequence  of  the  act? 

Here,  at  this  institution,  are  appointed  annually 
from  every  congressional  district  in  the  country,  candi- 
dates who  are  entirely  representative  in  character,  of 
good  health,  and  familiar  with  the  ordinary  studies  of 
the  grammar  school ;  youths  between  the  ages  of  1 7  and 
22,  who  represent  every  class  in  society  from  rich  to 

*  1900. 

57 


58  WEST  POINT 

poor.  Side  by  side  stand  the  lads  who  have  had  the 
most  delicate  moral  nurture,  or  none  at  all;  who  are 
models  of  truthfulness,  or  already  contrivers  of  escape 
from  duty  and  obligations.  Every  inequality  of  society 
is  represented  in  an  entering  class  of  cadets.  It  is 
necessary  to  insist  upon  this  point  in  order  to  appre- 
ciate the  results  of  four  years  of  training. 

In  a  few  days  after  entrance,  external  inequalities 
vanish  as  if  by  magic.  Duties,  privileges,  dress,  rooms, 
food,  all  are  alike;  no  one  is  permitted  to  have  money, 
or  at  least  to  spend  it.  In  a  week  every  sign  of  ex- 
ternal inequality  has  disappeared.  Personal  inequali- 
ties, of  course,  there  are  and  necessarily  must  be. 

There  is  absolutely  no  favoritism  by  the  instructors. 
The  very  corner-stone  of  the  most  effective  education 
is  the  marking  system,  the  immediate  consequence  of 
an  academic  performance,  wherein  absolute  and  com- 
plete justice  is  attained.  The  marks  are  posted,  and 
each  cadet  knows  what  his  performance  is  worth.  Fre- 
quent recitations,  due  to  a  larger  proportion  of  in- 
structors to  students  than  at  any  other  institute,  afford 
an  opportunity  to  thoroughly  test  each  cadet  daily,  and 
no  failing  can  possibly  be  hidden.  The  effect  on  the 
character  of  the  student  is  immediate  and  admirable. 

Here  there  can  be  no  shirking  of  duty,  and  every 
shortcoming  in  the  course  of  the  day  is  sure  to  bring 
its  corresponding  penalty.  There  is  no  moment  when 
the  cadet  does  not  fully  understand  that  his  perform- 
ance of  duty  now  will  influence  his  whole  official  career 
hereafter.  This  is  fully  recognized,  and  its  perfect  jus- 


"LET  PUNISHMENT  FIT  THE  CRIME"     59 

tice  admitted  by  all.  The  consequences  following  ac- 
tions are  certain.  Each  student  is  trained  in  the  heathen 
virtues  of  fortitude  and  justice.  It  is  at  once  his  duty 
and  his  advantage  to  be  proficient  in  his  academic  work. 

Now  for  the  system  affecting  the  official  character 
of  the  cadet  —  how  is  his  official  conduct  molded  and 
tested?  Again  the  marking  system;  the  effect  follow- 
ing the  cause,  certain  and  immediate.  '  Late  at  roll 
call'  carries  one  demerit;  'absent,'  ten;  'slight  untidi- 
ness in  dress,'  one;  '  inattention,'  to  duty  or  at  drill,  five; 
and  so  on. 

There  are  eighteen  thousand  opportunities  during 
four  years,  at  each  one  of  which  the  duty  of  punctuality 
is  emphasized  —  one  demerit  each.  One  hundred  de- 
merits in  six  months  insure  dismissal.  Every  one 
knows  this.  There  is  no  talking;  only  simple  laws  are 
prescribed,  and  each  one  of  them  is  just.  The  final 
result  is  like  the  result  of  gravitation  —  inevitable,  in- 
exorable, just,  and  immediate. 

The  conditions  stimulate  official  conduct  and  there 
is  a  standard  of  personal  honor  kept  up  among  the 
cadets  themselves.  A  liar  or  coward  is  shunned  by  all 
his  comrades,  and  a  student  guilty  of  conduct  unbecom- 
ing an  officer  and  a  gentleman  has  his  connection  with 
the  Army  at  once  cut  short. 

From  what  has  gone  before,*  it  may  be  seen  that  the 
system  presented  by  Professor  Holden,  and  which  is 
enforced  at  the  Military  Academy,  possesses  advantages 
that  no  other  can  supply.  The  moral  obligation  en- 

*  Introduced  in  these  pages  with  the  consent  of  the  Professor. 


60  WEST  POINT 

tered  into,  and  which  transforms  the  man  in  a  single 
day  or  hour,  is  the  oath  of  office  administered,  an  obli- 
gation paramount,  immediate,  and  continuous. 

At  a  conference  of  the  head  master  of  the  great  Eng- 
lish public  schools  one  of  the  speakers  severely  arraigned 
the  traditional  educational  methods  the  schools  were 
forced  to  employ  in  order  to  pass  boys  as  officers  into 
the  service.  A  military  correspondent  of "  The  Pall  Mall 
Gazette,"  criticising  the  Sandhurst  and  Woolwich  meth- 
ods, declares  the  British  authorities  admit  that  West 
Point  is  in  advance  of  anything  in  England.  He  de- 
scribes the  democratic  and  severely  competitive  system 
in  vogue  there,  saying:  "  Education  at  West  Point  is 
serious  thoroughness  rather  than  an  extension  of  attain- 
ments. Its  principle  is  controlling  education,  together 
with  the  knowledge  of  how  to  make  use  of  it.  Like  all 
exceptionally  good  education,  it  is  enormously  costly, 
perhaps  the  most  expensive  in  the  world.  But  in  many 
ways  it  is  said  to  be  by  far  the  best.  An  exhaustive 
comparison  of  West  Point  with  our  own  military  col- 
leges, as  educational  mediums,  is  to  the  disadvantage 
of  our  institutions." 

It  has  long  been  a  mooted  question  whether  the  class 
grading  of  cadets  at  the  time  they  leave  the  Academy 
should  be  accepted  as  evidence  of  ability  that  shall 
determine  success  in  after-life.  It  is  certain  that  at  no 
other  institution  in  the  country  is  "  class  standing " 
such  an  accurate  gauge  of  scholarly  attainments  in  the 
course  of  study  pursued,  as  at  the  United  States  Mili- 
tary and  Naval  Academies.  There  are  however  nu- 


"LET  PUNISHMENT  FIT  THE  CRIME"     61 

merous  instances  where,  if  the  course  of  study  were 
more  extended  in  point  of  time,  the  ultimate  grading 
of  class  members  would  be  materially  altered. 

It  is  well  understood  that  at  all  institutions  of  learn- 
ing —  Government  academies  and  common  or  high 
schools  excepted  —  the  best  scholars  and  the  cleverest 
men  do  not  "  put  their  best  foot  foremost "  as  cadets 
are  compelled  to  do.  In  fact,  under  the  marking  sys- 
tem at  the  national  institutions,  which  is  the  basis  of 
class  standing,  the  grading  secured  determines  for  the 
cadet  an  assignment  to  that  arm  of  the  service  which 
he  may  prefer,  the  chances  for  preferment  being  com- 
mensurate with  his  rating  under  this  system. 

In  this  connection  an  interesting  case  may  be  pre- 
sented;—  that  of  Patrick  O'Rorke,  who  was  born  in  Ire- 
land, his  parents  both  dying  on  the  voyage  to  this 
country.  Upon  the  arrival  of  the  ship  which  brought 
O'Rorke  to  our  shores,  he  was  taken  to  an  orphan 
asylum,  where,  at  the  age  of  12,  his  intelligence 
was  found  to  be  of  such  high  order  that  educational 
advantages  commensurate  with  his  ability  were  offered 
him,  of  which  he  was  not  slow  to  avail  himself.  As 
long  ago,  then,  as  the  year  1857,  ne  was  appointed  a 
cadet  to  the  Military  Academy.  The  writer  had  not 
at  any  time  the  good  fortune  to  be  his  roommate  when 
"  in  barracks,"  but  became  his  tentmate  during  our 
"  second  class  camp." 

This  was  at  the  period  of  a  presidential  campaign 
when  the  father  of  one  of  our  classmates  ("  John " 
)  was  then  a  candidate  for  the  high  office. 


62  WEST  POINT 

A  newspaper  clipping  was  forwarded  to  O'Rorke,  in 
which  his  merits  were  applauded,  but  rather  more 
as  a  foil  or  in  a  spirit  of  detraction  of  good  "  Old 
John,"  as  we  were  wont  to  call  him.  It  was  here 
argued  that  a  boy  born  of  immigrant  parents  reared  in 
an  orphan  asylum  could  attain  under  the  impartial  sys- 
tem of  the  Academy  the  highest  honors  of  his  class, 
and  it  was  also  shown  that  the  son  of  an  influential 
citizen,  a  candidate  for  the  highest  office  in  the  land, 
with  a  backing  which  should  determine  for  him  some 
degree  of  favoritism,  was  so  near  the  foot  of  his  class 
that  he  was  in  imminent  danger  of  being  <(  found  defi- 
cient "  in  his  studies  or  else  dismissed  for  demerit  at  the 
then  next  ensuing  semi-annual  examination.  "  Pat's  " 
permission  to  show  the  clipping  to  some  of  the  "  fel- 
lows "  was  asked,  but  he  instantly  tore  the  paper  into 
small  bits,  and  replied,  "  That  would  never  do;  it  would 
hurt  poor  John's  feelings."  As  a  further  illustration  of 
the  instincts  of  this  man,  he  was  heard  to  remark  at 
another  time,  that  when  he  entered  the  Military  Acad- 
emy he  felt  some  degree  of  apprehension  lest  he  should 
be  unequal  to  the  social  requirements  of  an  army  of- 
ficer, lacking,  as  he  did,  home  training  and  home  influ- 
ence. Accordingly,  he  said,  he  had  made  it  his  best 
endeavor,  while  at  the  Academy,  to  note  the  bearing 
of  men  in  the  class  who  were  better  favored  by  cir- 
cumstances than  he  had  been.  For  reasons  such  as 
these,  "  Pat "  O'Rorke  was  beloved  not  only  by  mem- 
bers of  his  own  class,  but  by  all  others  at  the  institution. 
He  was  regarded  by  officers,  as  well  as  by  cadets,  as 


"LET  PUNISHMENT  FIT  THE  CRIME"     63 

a  model  man,  and  when  on  one  occasion  he  was  asked 
to  draw  lots  with  another  of  the  class,  less  popular  than 
himself,  for  the  highest  honor,  he  declined  to  do  so 
upon  the  ground  that  "  the  lot  had  already  been  deter- 
mined in  favor  of  his  rival;  the  latter  having  held  above 
him  in  the  previous  year."  He  was  compelled  however 
to  accede  to  the  Academic  Board's  decision,  and  drew 
the  lucky  straw,  amidst  the  rejoicings  of  the  entire 
Corps  of  Cadets. 

Not  long  after  this,  at  artillery  drill,  the  No.  4,  serv- 
ing as  cannoneer,  jerked  the  lanyard  prematurely  and 
fired  the  rammer  through  O'Rorke's  hands,  when  he 
O'Rorke,  was  acting  as  No.  i  in  the  gun  detachment. 
Fortunately  O'Rorke  had  but  a  moderate  grip  upon  the 
rammer  staff  at  the  time,  and  although  his  gauntlet  was 
dragged  off,  his  arm  did  not  go  along  with  it.  The 
indignation  expressed  at  a  called  meeting  of  the  class 
was  such  as  would  probably  have  compelled  the  resig- 
nation of  the  careless  cadet,  had  the  accident  resulted 
more  seriously. 

Two  instances  have  occurred  at  the  Military  Academy 
in  the  course  of  artillery  drill,  where  the  right  arm  of 
the  cannoneer  was  torn  off.  In  one  case  the  man  died. 
In  the  other,  the  victim  survived;  to  be  allowed,  after 
graduation,  to  go  upon  the  retired  list  with  the  rank  of 
second  lieutenant.  The  cadet,  who,  in  this  latter  case, 
was  the  cause  of  the  disability  of  his  classmate,  was, 
comparatively  speaking,  a  wealthy  man,  and  settled 
upon  his  maimed  associate  a  sum  sufficient  to  compen- 


64  WEST   POINT 

sate  in  some  measure  for  the  consequences  of  his 
carelessness. 

The  junior  class  of.  1861  had  marked  as  the  future 
Commander  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States  this  man 
O'Rorke,  who,  had  he  been  spared,  would  probably 
have  justified  the  class  prevision.  Shortly  after  gradu- 
ation, he  was  appointed  colonel  of  a  volunteer  regiment 
from  the  State  of  New  York,  and  fell,  mortally  wounded, 
at  the  head  of  his  regiment  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg. 

It  is  admittedly  true  that  "  it  is  difficult  to  guard 
against  a  lack  of  home  training  in  young  men  chosen 
with  a  democratic  disregard  of  this  prerequisite,  but 
who  are,  in  the  highest  sense,  gentlemen;  gentlemen 
not  merely  in  the  matter  of  familiarity  with  the  usages 
of  good  society,  but  in  the  large  sense  of  the  term."* 
Taking  this  as  a  text,  the  case  of  Gushing,  equally  with 
that  of  O'Rorke,  comes  well  within  the  scope  of  these 
remarks. 

U.  S.  Grant  and  Jefferson  Davis,  graduates  of  exactly 
the  same  grading  and  in  classes  of  nearly  the  same 
strength,  furnish  good  illustrations  of  the  capabilities  of 
the  "  middle-man  "  of  the  class. 

Longstreet,  Lee's  lieutenant  and  corps  commander, 
is  another  instance  of  the  middleman  who  counseled 
his  Chief,  the  second  man  of  another  class,  to  counter- 
mand the  order  directing  the  charge  of  Pickett  at  Get- 
tysburg, a  charge  which  resulted  so  disastrously  for  the 
Confederate  cause.  Longstreet  not  only  evinced  better 

*  Editor  of  Army  and  Navy  Journal. 


"LET  PUNISHMENT  FIT  THE  CRIME"     65 

judgment  than  his  superior  on  this  occasion,  but  his  in- 
sistency, it  has  been  said,  came  very  near  costing1  him 
deposition*  from  command  of  his  corps. 

Brig.-Gen.  E.  P.  Alexander,  C.  S.  A.,  class  1857, 
states  that  "  in  conversation  with  Colonel  Ives  of  Presi- 
dent Davis's  staff,  during  a  ride  along  the  lines,  I  asked 
his  estimate  of  Lee.  His  reply  was  impressive;  stopping 
his  horse  and  turning  to  face  me,  he  said :  '  Lee  is  the 
most  audacious  officer  in  either  Army,  Confederate  or 
Federal;  he  will  fight  quicker  and  longer  and  take  more 
desperate  chances  than  any  general  this  country  has 
ever  seen  and  you  will  live  to  see  it/  "f 

Certain  it  is  that  on  no  less  than  two  occasions  (at 
Chancellorsville  and  before  the  second  battle  of  Bull 
Run),  Lee  divided  his  inferior  force  in  the  presence  of 
one  greatly  its  superior,  and  it  was  solely  due  to  his 
lieutenant,  Stonewall  Jackson,  that  these  operations 
were  successful,  the  hazard  being  far  greater  than 
conditions  warranted. 

In  referring  to  this  question  of  class  standing  at  the 
Military  Academy  the  few  special  cases  cited  simply  go- 
to show  that  in  the  soldier's  profession  scholarship  is 
not  everything,  but  as  preferment  is  given  the  men  who 
graduate  highest  in  their  classes  at  the  Military  Acad- 
emy, and  they  are  usually  assigned  to  the  scientific 
branches  of  the  service,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  in  time 
of  peace  men  afforded  such  advantages  should,  as  a  rule, 
profit  by  them. 

*  This  writer  does  not  credit  this  statement,  as  Longstreet,  like 
"  Stonewall  "  Jackson,  was  indispensable  to  Lee. 

'5 


66  WEST  POINT 

It  has  for  this  reason  always  been  considered  a  mat- 
ter of  the  first  importance  at  the  Military  Academy  for 
the  cadet  to  attain  the  best  possible  class  standing. 


There  was  a  day,  as  long  ago  as  1839.  when  the  Mili- 
tary Academy  was  bitterly  assailed,  for  the  reason  that 
in  the  matter  of  appointees  influential  elements  of  so- 
ciety were  propitiated   to   a  too   great   degree.     The 
opposition  to  the  Academy  at  that  time  may  perhaps 
have  been  well  taken,  and  it  had  evidently  crystallized 
in  the  day  of  Grant,  who  in  his  writings  says:    "  Early 
.in  the  session  of  the  Congress  which  met  in  December, 
1839,  a  bill  was  discussed  abolishing  the  Military  Acad- 
^emy.    I  saw  in  this  an  honorable  way  to  obtain  my  dis- 
'-charge,  and  read  the  debates  with  much  interest,  but 
with  impatience  at  the  delay  in  taking  action,  as  I  was 
selfish  enough  to  favor  the  bill.    It  never  passed;  and  a 
year  later,  although  the  time  hung  drearily  with  me,  I 
would  have  been  sorry  to  have  seen  it  succeed."     Had 
this  bill  passed  at  that  time  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that 
the  following  remarks  could  not  have  been  made  by 
Clayton,*  (one  of  the  investigators  of  the  Military  Acad- 
emy,) in  a  recent  congressional  debate:  "  I  cannot  for- 
get that  from  that  Academy  on  the  Northern  side  came 
Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan,  Thomas,  and  McClellan,  and 
•on  the  Southern  side,  Robert  E.  Lee,  Stonewall  Jackson, 
.and   the   two   Johnstons.      These   men   probably   had 

*The  Hon.  Bertram  T.  Clayton,  class  of  1886,  son  of  Maj.-Gen. 
H.  D.  Clayton,  C.  S.  A. 


"LET  PUNISHMENT  FIT  THE  CRIME"     67 

their  boyish  pranks;  they  had  their  hazings  and  their 
'straights'  like  other  boys;"  and  here  let  us  add,  in 
the  words  of  Judith  Hawes:  "  Sad  pickles  though  they 
may  be,  boys  such  as  these  make  the  best  and  bravest 
men." 

"  An  old  man  of  the  village  saw  the  boy  Clive  astride 
of  a  gargoyle  far  up  and  outside  the  church  tower: 
"  Ah!  "  he  muttered, shaking  his  head,  "  That  'ere  Bobby 
Clive,  he'll  never  come  to  no  good." 


CHAPTER  IV 
OUR  INSTRUCTORS 

THE  professors  of  our  day  were  Mahan  (engineer- 
ing), Bartlett  (philosophy),  Church  (mathe- 
matics), Kendrick  (chemistry,  mineralogy,  and 
geology),  Weir  (drawing),  French  (chaplain,  ethics), 
Agnel  (French),  De  Jafion  (Spanish). 

"  Old  Dad  "  (Kendrick)  was  present  at  the  siege  of 
Vera  Cruz,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  battles  of 
Cerro  Gordo  and  Amazoque.  He  was  brevetted  major 
for  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  in  the  defense  of 
Puebla,  and  preferred  always  to  be  addressed  as  Major 
rather  than  Professor. 

His  house  was  open  to  the  cadets  on  Saturday  after- 
noons, and  being  a  bachelor  he  was  able  to  entertain 
them  after  his  own  notions.  These  conditions  may 
be  more  fully  appreciated  when  we  say  that  Sherman 
and  Sheridan  and  all  the  other  "jolly  boys"  "put 
up  "  at  the  Major's  quarters  whenever  they  visited  the 
post. 

As  the  story  goes,  an  old  army  officer,  one  of  the 
early  temperance  advocates,  called  upon  the  Major  at 
a  time  when  he  was  absent  from  home.  The  old  lady 
housekeeper,  lowering  her  voice,  said:  "Walk  in,  Col- 
onel; the  Major  told  me  to  tell  any  one  who  might  call 

68 


OUR  INSTRUCTORS  69 

that  he  would  find  what  he  wants  on  the  upper  shelf 
of  the  closet  at  the  end  of  the  hall." 

It  was  the  custom  in  past  years,  when  any  good 
fellow  of  a  class  was  "hived,"  hived  drunk;  that 
is,  found  in  condition  such  as  to  warrant  his  be- 
ing brought  to  trial  before  a  court-martial,  for  the 
class  to  sign  a  pledge,  to  abstain  from  the  use 
of  intoxicating  liquors  during  the  remainder  of  their 
term  at  the  Academy,  in  order  to  save  the  un- 
fortunate from  dismissal.  Our  class,  at  that  time 
being  "  on  pledge,"  knew  full  well  where  to  go  on 
Saturday  afternoons,  the  afternoon  the  cadets  had  per- 
mission to  visit  on  the  post.  The  Major  invariably  in- 
quired of  those  who  sat  around  his  board,  "  May  I  help 
the  members  of  the  second  class  to  peaches  (peaches 
amply  supplied  with  liquor  preservative)?  "  and  as  the 
second  class  could  not  drink,  why  not  eat?  and  eat  as 
all  total  abstinence  people  do,  eat  intemperately ;  "  whip 
the  devil  around  the  stump?  " 

Our  commandant  at  the  time  was  John  F.  Reynolds, 
with  the  local  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  and  the  other 
officers  of  the  Department  of  Tactics  were:  Alexander 
McD.  McCook,  Lieutenant,  Second  Infantry;  Charles 
W.  Field,  Lieutenant,  Second  Cavalry;  Robert  Wil- 
liams, Lieutenant,  First  Dragoons;  Fitzhugh  Lee,  Lieu- 
tenant, Second  Cavalry,  and  Charles  Griffin,  Lieuten- 
ant, Second  Artillery,  the  latter  officer  transferring  with 
the  West  Point  Battery  to  Washington  City  early  in 
the  year  1861. 

Griffin  had  earned  no  sobriquet  at  the  hands  of  the 


70  WEST    POINT 

cadets  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  our  commandant, 
Reynolds;  but  McCook  was  frequently  called  "A. 
McD;  "  Field,  "  Charley;  "  Williams,  "  Bully,"  and  Fitz- 
hugh  Lee,  "  Fitz." 

General  Reynolds  was  killed  July  I,  1863,  aged  42. 
"  Being  in  command  of  the  engaged  forces  at  the 
opening  of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and  while  urg- 
ing his  men  with  animating  words,  he  was  struck  with 
a  rifle-shot  that  caused  almost  instant  death,  a  grievous 
loss  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  one  of  whose  most 
distinguished  and  best  beloved  officers  he  was;  one 
whom,  by  the  steady  growth  of  the  highest  military 
qualities,  the  general  voice  of  the  Army  had  marked 
out  for  the  largest  fame." 

Captain  Reynolds  had  been  brevetted  captain  and 
major  for  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  at  the  battles 
of  Monterey  and  Buena  Vista.  The  remaining  tactical 
officers,  when  serving  on  the  Plains,  had  engaged  in 
many  Indian  contests  and  had  done  good  service, 
though  not  requited  by  brevets.  The  law  distinctly 
requires  that  brevets  shall  not  be  bestowed  except 
in  time  of  war;  and  the  contests  in  which  our 
little  Army  was  engaged  on  the  Frontier  for  so  many 
long  years,  the  most  hazardous  of  all  warfare,  were,  as 
determined  by  revised  statutes,  not  to  be  so  classed. 
Those  who  fell  in  conflicts  with  the  Indians  were  men 
who  passed  quietly  from  their  classes  at  the  Academy 
to  the  Western  wilds,  returning  —  if  ever  again  —  to 
their  Alma  Mater  for  final  interment  in  the  West  Point 
Cemetery.*  The  battle  monument  which  now  rears  its 


OUR  INSTRUCTORS  71 

shaft  near  Trophy  Point  bears  not  even  on  its  panels 
the  names  of  these  unsung  heroes,  as  its  specific  aim 
is  to  commemorate  only  the  names  of  those  who,  as 
officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Regular  Army,  were  killed 
in  battle  during  the  Civil  War. 

It  was  hard  enough  for  those  who  were  left  at  the 
Military  Academy  in  the  winter  and  spring  of  1861 
to  part  with  their  comrades  from  the  South.  But  sud- 
denly, in  the  same  month  in  which  the  first  class  was 
graduated,  Reynolds,  Griffin,  McCook,  Williams,  Field, 
and  Lee,  all  the  "  Tac's,"  departed  from  the  Academy 
for  active  service.  Field  and  Lee  became  distinguished 
leaders  in  the  Confederate  States  service.  Williams, 
although  a  Virginian  by  birth  and  affiliation,  remained 
loyal  to  the  Union  and  commanded  the  First  Massa- 
chusetts Cavalry,  with  the  same  energy  and  zeal  that 
he  had  ever  displayed  at  the  Military  Academy  as  in- 
structor of  cavalry  tactics.  Later  he  became  Adjutant- 
General,  United  States  Army. 

Of  Alexander  McD.  McCook,  Major-General,  United 
States  Army,  retired,  so  much  is  known  that  it  needs 
but  to  be  said  that  he  is  much  more  youthful  and  spry 
than  many  "  old  fellows,"  his  juniors  by  many  years, 
who  are  now  verging  upon  retirement. 

Of  Fitzhugh  Lee  also,  words  are  unnecessary.  He 
has  fought  for  and  against  us,  and  all  is  now  forgiven 

*  "  Although  no  sculptured  marble  should  rise  to  their  memory, 
nor  engraved  stone  bear  record  of  their  deeds,  yet  will  their  re- 
membrance be  as  lasting  as  the  land  they  honored." —  Daniel  Web- 
ster. 


72  WEST   POINT 

and  forgotten  that  could  in  any  wise  detract  from  the 
luster  of  the  star  which  he  wears  with  so  much  honor 
in  the  strap  upon  his  shoulder.  He  commanded  the 
company  of  cadets  of  which  the  writer  was  a  member; 
and  "  Fitz's  "  parting  words,  as,  with  tears  in  his  eyes 
and  a  voice  tremulous  with  emotion,  he  bade  us  fare- 
well, left  an  impression  that  will  not  be  effaced  so  long 
as  memory  lasts. 

The  writer  found  in  "  Charley  "  Field*  a  good,  kind 
friend;  and  remembers  well  the  overwhelming  grief  in 
his  family  when  the  time  arrived  for  the  former  to  sever 
his  bond  with  the  United  States  Army,  and  take  up 
arms  against  the  flag  which  he  had  so  often  and  so 
valiantly  defended.  Standing  six  feet  three  inches, 
and  cast  in  the  mold  of  an  Adonis,  he  was  probably 
the  finest  specimen  of  manhood  that  ever  passed  from 
out  the  portals  of  our  Alma  Mater.  When  mounted 
upon  his  favorite  charger  and  at  the  head  of  the  cadet 
troop,  his  presence  dwarfed  all  others.  The  soldierly 
bearing  of  this  officer  and  his  personal  appearance, 
coupled  with  a  certain  recklessness  and  devil-may-care 
manner  in  his  training  of  the  cadets  in  the  riding  hall, 
won  for  him  the  deepest  admiration  and  affection.  In 
fact,  the  cadets  fairly  worshipped  him. 

And  now  for  "  Bully  Williams,"  so  well  known  by 
this  sobriquet  as  not  otherwise  to  be  referred  to  in  these 
pages.  He,  too,  was  a  man  after  the  fashion  of  Field, 
both  in  looks  and  action.  A  bold  sabreur,  one  to  win 
the  heart  of  any  man,  or  woman  either.  Indeed,  we 

*  Later  Major- General,  C.  S.  A. 


OUR   INSTRUCTORS  73 

apprehend  that  it  was  the  heart  of  one  of  the  other  sex 
that  earned  for  Robert  Williams  his  sobriquet.  The 
story,  as  we  cadets  had  it,  relates  to  "  arrows  and 
darts,''  to  "  pistols  and  coffee;  "  "  a  bullet  through  the 
hat  of  our  "  Bully  Boy,"  and  "  a  bullet,  in  reserve,  fired 
in  the  air." 

Williams'  system  of  instruction  and  strict  discipline 
struck  a  fair  balance  with  Field's  laxity  and  recklessness, 
since  without  this  check  we  should  not  have  turned  out 
good  cavalry  soldiers,  however  well  qualified  as  "  rough 
and  tumble  "  riders  we  might  have  been. 

Well  do  we  all,  members  of  the  1861  classes,  remem- 
ber "  Bully's  "  method  of  inviting  attention  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  navigation  for  one  "  at  sea "  upon  a  horse. 
For  example,  the  case  of  Mithers.  (If  there  is  a  Mr. 
Mithers,  our  remarks  need  not  apply.)  "  Mr.  Mithers, 
keep  your  horse  off  the  heels  of  the  horse  in  front  of 
you."  A  rebuke  from  the  far  end  of  the  riding  hall, 
and  a  voice  to  be  likened  at  the  present  day  to  that 
of  the  megaphone  call.  "  Remember,  Mr.  Mithers, 
that  '  All  that  glitters  is  not  gold.'  "  Mr.  Mithers  will 
not  forget  it;  nor  shall  any  of  us  cease  to  remember  the 
unfathomable  gibes  and  jests  of  this  our  "  Bully  Boy." 
Or  it  may  be,  "Sit  up,  Mr.  Mithers."  "Hold  your 
bridle  rein  properly."  "  Carry  back  your  legs;  and  re- 
member, Mr.  Mithers,  that  '  A  rolling  stone  gathers 
no  moss.' ' 

It  so  happened  that  on  a  certain  day  Mr.  Mithers 
having  attained  the  highest  honors  in  his  class  in  the 
course  of  drawing,  exchanged  as  squad  leader  with 


74  WEST   POINT 

O'Rorke  —  the  alternation  daily  after  January  exami- 
nation being  between  drawing  and  riding.  Mr.  Mithers 
thus  became  the  leader  of  the  cavalry  squad,  and  what 
an  honor!  The  megaphone  now  opened  with  a  rattling 
volley:  "Mr.  Mithers,  the  command  was  'walk,'  not 
'  trot.' '  "  Mr.  Mithers,  the  command  was  '  trot  out,' 
not  '  gallop.'  "  "  Squad,  halt!  "  "  Mr.  Mithers  and 
Mr.  Custer,  "  lead  out; "  "  dismount! "  "  exchange 
horses  —  and  now,  Mr.  Mithers,  take  your  place  at  the 
tail  end  of  the  squad,  the  place  where  you  properly 
belong."  After  further  maneuvering,  again  the  com- 
mand, "  halt! "  coupled  with  these  complimentary  ob- 
servations: "  Mr.  Mithers,  you  are  afraid  of  your  horse." 
(Afraid  of  his  horse!  Well  might  any  cadet,  even 
"  Fitz  "  himself,  be  afraid  of  "  Quaker.")  "  Mr.  Mith- 
ers, such  conduct  as  this  will  do  very  well  for  a  lady's 
boudoir,  but  when  it  comes  to  dealing  with  men,  it  won't 
do,  sir;  it  won't  do! "  At  this  juncture  it  would  not  be 
fair  to  Lieutenant  Williams  to  leave  unrecognized  an 
idea  which  the  lapse  of  many  years  has  slowly  evolved 
from  the  depths  of  our  inner  consciousness. 

Turn  to  Richard  Third  and  in  the  very  first  speech 
find  words  which  throw  broad  light  upon  a  matter  full 
of  poise  and  difficulty: 

"  instead  of  mounting  barbed  steeds 

To  fright  the  souls  of  fearful  adversaries, 
He  capers  nimbly  in  a  lady's  chamber 
To  the  lascivious  pleasing  of  a  lute." 

If  Lieutenant  Williams  really  meant  that  Mithers  was 
better  fitted  to  caper  nimbly  in  a  lady's  chamber  (bou- 


OUR  INSTRUCTORS  75 

doir)  than  to  mount  a  barbed  steed,  he  "  had  "  Mithers 
beyond  all  controversy;  and  Mithers  must  either  get 
even  with  him  or  heap  coals  of  fire  upon  his  head  by 
forgiving  him. 

Well  do  we  remember  "  the  practice  march,"  as 
"  Bully  "  was  wont  to  call  it,  to  Stony  Point  and  back; 
all  the  way  at  a  walk,  never  once  breaking  into  trot  or 
gallop  (how  we  hated  this).  It  was  by  no  means  an 
unusual  occurrence,  as  we  passed  Cozzens'  Hotel,  for 
a  gentleman  at  the  rear  of  the  squad  (by  name,  Custer) 
to  suddenly  disappear;  as  luck  would  have  it,  his  ab- 
sence never  being  observed  by  "  Bully."  This  was 
before  the  class  "took  the  pledge,"  Custer's  purpose 
being  to  water  his  horse  at  the  trough,  in  front  of  the  bar 
of  the  hotel. 

On  one  such  occasion  Lieutenant  Williams's  atten- 
tion had  been  specially  directed  to  Custer's  horse  after 
he  had  rejoined  the  squad,  and  as  he  wheeled  us  into 
line,  preparatory  to  dismounting,  he  gave  this  parting 
shot:  "  Gentlemen,  I  regret  to  say  that  you  have  treated 
your  horses  to-day  very  much  as  the  schoolboy  does 
his  first  penknife."  "Dismount!" 

Now,  a  word  before  the  "  Squad's  dismissed!  " 

Sir  Walter  Scott  was  advised  to  desist  from  further 
effort  with  his  pen  after  his  "  Marmion."  Yet  there 
followed  "  The  Lady  of  the  Lake."  To  fully  reassure 
himself  after  the  caution  of  friends,  he  read  aloud  his 
later  production  to  an  old  and  experienced  hunter.  At 
the  point  where  the  hounds  of  James  Fitz  James  plunge 
into  the  water  to  follow  the  shallop  to  the  Isle  in  the 


76  WEST   POINT 

Lake,  the  old  man  sprang  up  and  ejaculated,  "Stop! 
it  will  never  do  for  the  dogs  to  make  the  plunge,  after 
that  run" 

An  old  hunter  in  perusing  the  lines  of  our  manu- 
script, enters  this  remark,  "  Fail  not  to  tell  me  what 
that  Blazer,  Williams,  meant  by  his  joke  about  the 
'  schoolboy's  penknife.' '  ("  Birds  of  a  feather  flock 
together  "  —  of  course,  of  course  —  how  else  would 
they  flock?  they  wouldn't  be  such  blasted  fools  as  to 
flock  apart.")  To  be  perfectly  candid  with  you,  old 
friend,  it  has  taken  many  years  for  the  cadets  of  our 
day  to  "  gather  moss"  on  this  subject.  But  Oh!  how 
refreshing  it  is  to  discard  the  dried-up  "  chestnuts " 
of  modern  days  and  think  over  what  we  had  done 
on  that  past  day  to  our  horses  that  the  schoolboy  does 
to  his  first  penknife.  No  wonder  your  brain  is  sore 
perplexed  to  know  what  the  "Blazer"  meant;  none 
other  than  "  Bully "  the  "  Blazer  "  can  respond  to  this 
most  natural  query. 

Before  the  writer  goes  too  far  in  this  vein,  he  may  add 
that  Lieutenant  Williams  was  greatly  respected,  as  all 
officers  of  merit  and  distinction  well  must  be.  Indeed,  a 
mishap  to  Cadet  Mithers  should  bear  out  this  re- 
mark. Mithers  had  taken  the  hurdle  ahead  of  "  Old 
Clothesline "  (the  swayback  horse  of  the  squad). 
"  Clothesline "  following,  planted  his  foremost  foot 
into  Cadet  Mithers's  breathing  apparatus,  which  neces- 
sitated this  gentleman's  being  carried  off  to  the  hospital. 
"  Now,  gentlemen,"  said  the  noble  "  Bully,"  that  was 
no  fault  of  Mr.  Mithers;  it  was  entirely  the  fault  of  his 


OUR  INSTRUCTORS  77 

horse;  and  I  take  this  occasion  to  say  that  at  one  time 
Mr.  Mithers  was  the  worst  rider  in  the  squad,  whereas 
now  he  is  one  of  the  best ;  "  had  the  writer  been  Mithers 
he  would  add,  "  and  this  was  due  entirely  to  Lieutenant 
Williams's  most  excellent  system  of  instruction." 

We  can  hardly  leave  the  riding  hall  without  one  word 
for  the  senior  instructor  in  cavalry  tactics,  "  Charley 
Field."  Those  of  us  who  had  read  "Charley  O'Mal- 
ley  "  and  were  familiar  with  the  exploits  of  "  Charley 
May,"  of  Mexican  War  fame,  knew  full  well  what  we 
were  about  in  bestowing  a  sobriquet  this  time. 

Charley  May  the  very  counterpart  of  "  Charley  Field/' 
was  a  gallant  officer  of  good  old  Maryland  stock, 
who  rode  into  Arista's  batteries,  and  over  his  guns,  at 
Resaca  de  la  Palma,  far  in  the  lead  of  his  troop,  and 
with  "  Zeb  Inge,"  his  first  lieutenant,  a  close  second. 
Poor  "  Zeb!  "  his  last  words  were: —  "  Charley,  'tis  not 
fair;  hold  back!" 

The  night  before  the  battle  of  Palo  Alto  and  two 
nights  before  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  "  Zeb "  invited 
"Charley"  to  call  upon  "Sam  Ringgold."  "I  go 
to  see  '  Sam  '  so  often,"  "  Charley  "  replied,  "  I  am 
afraid  I'll  drink  up  all  of  his  whisky;  but  I'll  tell  you 
what  I  will  do.  I'll  go  up  with  you  and  when  asked, 
will  decline  to  drink;  and  then  when  he  asks  you,  '  Zeb/ 
to  '  take  something/  and  you  two  fill  up,  I'll  say,  '  I 
hate  to  see  you  fellows  drinking  alone;  I  think  I'll  join 
you/ '  The  program  was  carried  out  as  arranged  for. 
"  Well,  '  Zeb/  come  along,"  said  "  Sam;  "  "  if  '  Charley ' 


78  WEST    POINT 

won't  take  anything,  you  will,  won't  you?"  "Thank 
you,  '  Sam,'  I  believe  not;  I,  also,  must  swear  off  for 
the  night;  follow  '  Charley's '  example,  you  know." 
Alas  for  poor  "  Charley  " !  Within  so  brief  a  period 
as  forty-eight  hours,  these  friends  were  killed  in  battle, 
the  one  at  Palo  Alto,  and  the  other  on  the  day  follow- 
ing at  Resaca  de  la  Palma. 

To  all  outward  appearances  "  Charley "  May  and 
"  Charley "  Field  were  much  alike,  except  that  while 
May  wore  his  beard  long  and  pointed,  almost  to  his 
waist,  Field  contented  himself  with  the  conventional 
cavalryman's  moustache.  They  both  wore  their  hair 
a  la  Captain  Cody,  and  from  this  Cadet  Custer  took 
his  cue,  and,  as  will  be  seen,  A.  McD.  assisted  him  in 
dispensing  with  a  large  proportion  of  it  at  Sunday 
morning  inspection. 

Custer,  after  being  several  times  reported  for  long 
hair,  instructed  the  barber  to  give  his  head  "  a  clean 
shave/'  This  was  something  for  others  but  not  for 
Custer  himself  to  laugh  at,  the  laugh  with  him  being 
altogether  on  "  the  other  side  of  the  mouth." 

"  A.  McD.  "  pursued  this  prospective  cavalry  leader 
relentlessly,  as  any  other  "  dough  boy "  would  have 
done,  and  at  all  military  inspections,  and  in  fact  at  all 
other  times  "  on  sight,"  reported  Custer  for  "  Hair  out 
of  uniform,"  until  this  young  gentleman  was  forced  to 
decorate  his  bald  head  with  a  tan-colored  wig  to  save 
himself  from  dismissal. 

The  delinquency  books  of  the  Academy  corroborate 
this,  and  further  show  that  "  Jim "  Lord's  boasted 


OUR  INSTRUCTORS  79 

venture  therein  also  had  its  entry.  "  Jim "  was  not 
reported  for  moustache  at  inspection,  as  he  wagered 
that  he  would  be;  but  simply  for  the  unmilitary  offense 
of  "  Trying  to  have  some  hair  on  upper  lip,"  and  this 
on  a  very  chilly  Sunday  morning,  "  a  cold  day,"  so  to 
speak  for  "Jim."  Oh,  yes;  "A.  McD."  knew  at  that 
time  as  well  how  to  manage  cadets  as  at  a  later  date 
he  did  the  "Johnny  Rebs."  A  strategist  as  well  as 
tactician,  was  this  prospective  Major-General,  United 
States  Army. 

And  now,  without  further  digression,  let  us  get  at 
"  Charley  "  Field's  system  of  instruction  in  cavalry  tac- 
tics, a  very  different  system  from  the  one  enunciated  and 
practiced  by  the  junior  assistant  in  the  same  department. 

Lieutenant  Field  had  been  ordered  to  Vermont  to 
purchase  horses,  and  had  advertised  throughout  the 
State  for  vicious  animals,  his  idea  being,  no  doubt,  that 
they  might  serve  the  useful  and  double  purpose  of  teach- 
ing cadets  to  break  in  horses  and  horses  to  break  in 
cadets.  As  a  financial  operation,  his  efforts,  too,  were  a 
great  success.  "  Xantippe,"  for  instance,  was  knocked 
down  for  five  dollars,  though  any  cadet  would  have  been 
only  too  ready  to  put  up  double  that  sum  to  have  the 
brute  killed. 

After  a  large  invoice  of  these  Vermont  horses  had 
been  received  at  the  Point  on  one  of  those  cool,  crisp 
autumnal  days,  the  air  full  of  ozone  and  the  horses  full 
of  the  "  Old  Nick,"  the  animals  in  the  riding  hall  were 
equipped  with  blankets  and  snaffle  bits,  ready  for  the 
riders  of  the  junior  class. 


80  WEST    POINT 

"  Charley  "  conceived  the  notion  of  a  turn  to  "  Coz- 
zens'  "  and  back:  "  A  practice  march  "  indeed  it  was. 
The  horses'  mouths,  even  in  the  short  time  they  had 
been  at  the  Point,  were  well  hardened  to  the  curb  by 
the  first  class  men's  exercises. 

If  there  are  any  of  us  alive  to-day  (Yes,  there  are 
five!),  it  is  thought  they  have  not  forgotten  that  first 
saddle  blanket,  snaffle  bit  ride  to  Cozzens'  on  that 
exceptionally  fine  October  morning.  It  not  only  "  beat 
the  band,"  but  was  far  ahead  of  any  circus  that  we 
(What  say  the  five?)  ever  after  attended.  Fully  three- 
quarters  of  the  entire  squad  picked  themselves  up 
at  various  points  along  the  road,  ajid  trotted  home 
on  "  shanks'  mare."  May  not  something  be  gleaned 
from  this  of  Lieutenant  Field's  system  of  instruction, 
the  antithesis  of  that  of  Lieutenant  Williams? 

Cadets,  as  well  as  cats,  it  is  said,  have  nine  lives,  and 
hence  it  is,  that  practice  of  this  kind,  when  one  is  well 
insured,  is  not  only  useful  but  may  save  many  a  life  in 
the  long  run. 

And  here  is  its  usefulness:  When  war  comes  upon  us 
as  did  the  great  War  of  the  Rebellion,  and  cavalry 
leaders  are  sought  for,  the  graduates  of  the  Military 
Academy  will  in  the  future  as  in  the  past  be  ever  ready 
for  the  contest. 

We  may  name  a  few  of  the  cavalry  brigade,  division, 
and  corps  commanders  irrespective  of  the  sides  on  which 
they  fought  during  the  Civil  War:  Earl  Van  Dorn; — 
Marmaduke; —  Mackenzie; —  Jubal  Early; —  Gregg; — 
Buckner;— Averill;— "  Harry  "  Wilson—"  Jeb  "  Stuart; 


OUR   INSTRUCTORS  81 

(J.  E.  B.)—  "Joe"  Wheeler;—  John  Buford;—  Alfred 
Pleasonton;—  "Fitz"  Lee;—  "Charley"  Fitzhugh;— 
Fitzpatrick; — Stoneman; —  Merritt; — Custer; — "Phil" 
Sheridan;—  "Bob"  Williams;—  "Charley"  Field  and 
a  host  of  others  too  numerous  to  mention;  all  sons  of 
our  Alma  Mater. 

Proud  mother  of  heroes! 
6 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  WEST  POINT  LIGHT   BATTERY 

THE  West  Point  light  battery  was  commanded  in 
1861  by  Captain  Charles  Griffin,*  senior  instruc- 
tor of  artillery  tactics,  and  manned  by  cadets  as 
acting  chiefs  of  sections,  chiefs  of  pieces  and  cannoneers. 
The    drivers    for    the    gun    and    caisson    teams    were 
dragoons  assigned  for  this  duty,  and  at  the  same  time 
charged  with   the  care  of  the  horses   in   the  cavalry 
stables. 

It  was  presumed,  under  the  orders  from  the  War  De- 
partment, received  early  in  January,  that  the  battery 
would  not  be  required  in  Washington  before  the  inaugu- 
ration of  Abraham  Lincoln.  These  orders,  however, 
necessitated  recruiting  the  battery  to  its  full  enlisted 
strength,  and  for  this  reason  the  cadets  feared  that  they 
were  to  lose  not  only  the  battery,  but  also  the  horses, 
which  were  used  for  squadron  and  trooper  drill  as  well 
as  for  light  artillery  exercises.  Everything  seemed  to 
be  going  from  us  at  once:  comrades,  instructors,  and, 
in  fact,  all  adjuncts  of  our  military  training,  and  after 
the  battery  left  the  Point,  it  might  be  a  long  time  before 
the  cadets  would  again  exercise  on  the  cavalry  plain  in 
squadron  or  battery  drill,  cut  heads,  or  jump  the  hurdle 

*  Later  Major-General,  U.  S.  V. 
82 


LIGHT   BATTERY  83 

in  the  Riding-  Hall.  The  end  of  all  things  seemed  at 
hand;  the  country,  indeed,  was  "going  to  the  dogs," 
and  no  mistake. 

The  writer  recalls  a  day  when,  as  the  battery  was  dash- 
ing down  the  plain  at  full  speed,  its  right  piece  drew 
ahead,  horses  on  the  run.  "  Halt !  "  signaled  the  up- 
raised sabres.  "Halt!"  sounded  the  bugle,  but  there 
was  no  halt  for  the  mad  team  as  it  careered  across  the 
battery  front  straight  for  the  stable  road.  As  the  driv- 
ers strove  to  guide  the  brutes  from  this  path  of  sure 
destruction,  by  a  sharp,  quick  turn,  over  went  gun,  lim- 
ber, horses,  drivers  and  all  in  one  common  heap,  and 
out  on  a  tangent  shot  the  cannoneers  from  the  limber 
seats ; —  all  save  one.  The  limber  wheel  was  lifted  from 
his  (broken?)  neck.  "Not  dead  yet!"  were  his  very 
words  as  he  was  extricated  from  the  wreck,  and  he 
("  Billy")  is  still  mustered  with  the  living.* 

As  the  battalion  stood  in  ranks,  at  reveille,  on  the 
last  day  of  January,  a  bugle  note  sounding  "  Column, 
left!  "  "  Forward,  guide  right!  "  brought,  into  view  and 
for  the  last  time,  our  field  battery.  Here  was  war  in- 
deed, though  none  of  us  could  realize  it.  After  break- 
ing ranks  the  entire  corps  assembled  in  front  of 
barracks  and  gave  the  battery  three  rousing  cheers,  as 
it  wound  its  way  around  by  the  valley  road  on  its  long, 
uncertain  journey,  and  as  the  last  carriage  passed  from 
sight  it  was  with  aching  hearts  that  we  retraced  our 
steps  to  the  barrack  rooms. 

Gushing  and  Pelham:  the  one  the  Ringgold  of  the 

*  Col.  William  A.  Marye. 


84  WEST   POINT 

Union  and  the  other  of  the  Confederate  Army ; —  both 
were  there  to  join  in  that  good-bye  cheer.  Of  the 
former  we  have  already  spoken,  and  now  of  Pelham 
but  one  single  word;  a  noble  fellow:*  —  had  he 
premonitions  on  that  moonlit  winter  morn,  when, 
or  where  next  the  West  Point  battery's  guns  would 
respond  to  the  guns  of  Pelham's  horse  brigade? 
Kind,  brave  and  generous  Pelham,  we  shall  not  forget 
you.  No  Union  officer  had  aught  but  consideration  at 
your  hands  when  held  by  you  as  prisoner  of  war. 

And  Custer,  how  would  Custer  have  fared  without 
Pelham's  Virginia  "  straight  cut,"  and  Pelham,  how 
would  he  have  made  out  without  Custer's  commissary 
"rotgut?  "  A  traffic  through  the  picket  lines,  on  quiet 
days.f 

The  scene  shifts;  this  is  the  field  of  Manassas,  as 
NicolayJ  describes  it:  "Death  puffed  from  bushes, 

*  In  April,  1863,  there  is  recorded  this  tribute  at  the  hands  of 
Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee:  "  Thanks  to  Gen.  Fitzhugh  Lee  and  his  noble 
brigade,  it  failed;  not,  however,  without  the  loss  of  such  noble 
spirits  as  Majors  Pelham  and  Pullen." 

t  "  The  rule  was  for  a  Yankee  to  wave  a  newspaper,  go  forward 
toward  the  rebel  line,  meet  a  reb  who  came  forward  waving  a 
newspaper,  and  midway  the  two  pickets  exchanged  commodities  to 
their  mutual  benefit. 

"  There  was  not  one  incident  of  this  kind,  but  scores.  Some- 
times it  was  the  Confederate  who  was  suffering  and  the  Unionist 
gave  him  what  he  most  needed.  Occasionally  it  was  the  Unionist 
who  was  suffering  and  the  Confederate  shared  with  him  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  but  the  minute  the  truce  was  at  an  end  they  were 
blazing  away  at  each  other  without  a  thought  of  any  obligation  to 
forget  their  duties  as  soldiers." 

t  Scribner  series. 


LIGHT  BATTERY  85 

fences,  buildings;  and  yet  the  jets  of  flame  and  wreaths 
of  smoke  were  the  only  visible  enemy  to  assail.  Officers 
and  cannoneers  held  on  with  a  desperate  courage;  some 
moved  to  new  positions  to  foil  the  Rebel  range.  Griffin's 
battery  came  and  took  place  alongside;  eleven  Union 
guns  and  thirteen  Confederate  guns  were  confronted  at 
short  range  in  a  stubborn  and  exciting  duel.  But  now 
the  Rebel  regiments,  seeing  the  dangerous  exposure  of 
the  Union  batteries,  were  tempted  to  swarm  out  of  their 
cover.  They  pressed  cautiously  but  tenaciously  upon 
Ricketts.  Griffin,  absorbed  in  directing  the  fire  of  two 
of  his  guns  against  the  Rebel  batteries,  was  suddenly 
startled  by  seeing  a  regiment  advancing  boldly  on  his 
right,  in  open  view.  Their  very  audacity  puzzled  him. 
They  could  hardly  be  friends,  he  thought;  yet  was  it 
possible  that  foes  were  so  near  and  would  take  such  a 
risk?  Instinctively  he  ordered  his  guns  to  be  charged 
with  canister  and  trained  upon  them.  Yet  at  the  dread- 
ful thought  of  pouring  such  a  volley  upon  a  Union 
regiment,  he  once  more  hesitated,  and  held  a  brief  col- 
loquy with  Major  Barry,  Chief  of  Artillery.  '  Captain,' 
said  Barry,  '  they  are  your  battery  support.'  '  They 
are  Confederates,'  replied  Griffin,  in  intense  excitement; 
'  as  certain  as  the  world,  they  are  Confederates.'  '  No/ 
answered  Barry,  '  I  know  they  are  your  battery  sup- 
port.' Griffin  spurred  forward,  and  told  his  officer  not 
to  fire.  The  mistake  proved  fatal.  During  his  interval 
of  doubt  the  Confederate  regiment  had  approached  to 
point-blank  range,  and  leveled  their  muskets  just  as 
Griffin  gave  his  order  to  desist.  Griffin's  canister  would 


86  WEST   POINT 

have  annihilated  the  regiment;  but  now  the  tables  were 
turned,  and  in  an  instant  the  regiment's  volley  had 
annihilated  Griffin's  and  Ricketts'  batteries.  Officers 
and  men,  wounded  or  dead;  and  horses  and  caissons 
went  tearing  in  wild  disorder  down  the  hill,  breaking 
and  scattering  the  ascending  line  of  battle.  Under  this 
sudden  catastrophe  the  supporting  regiment  stood  a 
while  spellbound  with  mingled  astonishment  and  terror. 
They  were  urged  forward  to  repel  the  advance  on  the 
guns;  but  the  unexpected  disaster  overawed  them;  and 
under  the  continued  volleys  of  the  advancing  Confed- 
erate regiment  they  fired  their  muskets,  turned,  and  fled. 
These  disabled  batteries,  visible  to  both  armies,  now 
became  the  centre  and  coveted  prize  of  an  irregular 
contest,  which  surged  back  and  forth  over  the  plateau 
of  the  Henry  Hill;  but,  whether  because  of  confusion  of 
orders,  or  the  broken  surface  of  the  ground,  or  more 
probably  the  eagerness  of  capture  and  rescue,  the  con- 
test was  carried  on,  not  by  the  whole  line,  but  by  single 
regiments,  or  at  most  by  two  or  three  regiments  moving 
accidentally  rather  than  designedly  in  concert.  Several 
times  the  fight  raged  past  and  over  the  prostrate  body 
of  Ricketts,  lying  wounded  among  his  guns,  and  who 
was  finally  carried  away  a  prisoner  to  Richmond.  The 
Rebels  would  dash  forward,  capture  the  batteries,  and 
endeavor  to  turn  the  pieces  on  the  Union  lines;  then  a 
Union  regiment  would  sweep  up  the  hill;  drive  them 
back,  and  essay  to  drag  the  guns  down  into  safe  posses- 
sion. And  a  similar  shifting  and  intermitting  fight  went 
on,  not  merely  on  this  single  spot,  but  also  among  the 


LIGHT   BATTERY  87 

low  concealing  pines  of  the  middle  ground  in  front,  as 
well  as  in  the  oak  woods  on  the  Union  right,  where  at 
times  friends  became  intermingled  with  foes,  and  where 
both  sides  took  occasional  prisoners  near  the  same 
place." 

"  Officers  of  experience  and  sagacity,  indeed,  became 
seriously  alarmed  for  the  final  result  when  Griffin's  and 
Ricketts'  batteries  were  destroyed." 

There  lay  Ramsay  and  Craig  dead,  and  Ricketts, 
their  captain,  wounded.  Ames,  after  being  wounded, 
refused  to  leave  the  field  but  was  forced  to  dismount 
from  his  horse;  so  that  but  two  of  the  six  battery 
officers  escaped  without  hurt. 

What  more  shall  be  said  of  this  battery  of  our  Alma 
Mater?  Its  losses  at  Bull  Run  were  twenty-seven  killed 
and  wounded.  After  this  we  hear  of  "  D  "  of  the  Fifth 
at  Hanover  Court  House,  Mechanicsville,  Games'  Mill, 
Malvern  Hill,  Manassas,  Antietam,  Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  Rappahannock  Station, 
Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  North  Anna,  Cold  Harbor, 
Weldon  Railroad,  and  Appomattox. 

\Vhat  of  Gettysburg?  Hazlett,  our  gallant,  chival- 
rous, handsome  young  soldier  held  Little  Round  Top, 
the  key  of  the  battlefield,  against  repeated  assaults  of 
the  enemy,  giving  up  his  life,  as  did  "  Little  Woodruff," 
his  lieutenant,  and  the  good  work  of  this  battery  con- 
tributed greatly  to  that  glorious  victory. 

"  At  Appomattox,  the  West  Point  battery  saw  its 
arduous  efforts  justified  by  the  conquest  of  a  noble 
peace,"  and  a  tablet  at  our  Alma  Mater  will  ever  read: 


88  WEST    POINT 

"  No  organization  has  a  prouder  record,"  than  Battery 
"D,"  Fifth  United  States  Artillery,  the  West  Point 
Light  Artillery.* 

"In  the  spring  of  1898,  ten  light  batteries  of  the  old 
regiments  of  artillery  were  concentrated  at  Chicka- 
mauga,  Georgia,  and  the  organization  was  later  desig- 
nated The  Light-  Artillery  Brigade  of  the  Fifth  Army 
Corps. 

"  Four  batteries  of  the  First  and  Second  Artillery  had 
preceded  the  brigade  proper  and  had  taken  an  active 
part  in  all  of  the  engagements  around  Santiago,  before 
the  arrival  of  the  remaining  batteries  of  the  brigade  on 
the  9th  of  July,  at  Baquiri,  some  twenty  miles  from 
Santiago  de  Cuba/' 

"  D  "  of  the  Fifth,  the  old  West  Point  Battery,  left 
Fort  Hamilton,  N.  Y.,  April  19,  1898;  arrived  at  Chick- 
amauga  Park  April  21,  1898;  left  Chickamauga  Park 
April  30,  1898;  arrived  at  Port  Tampa,  Fla.,  May  2, 
1898;  left  Port  Tampa  July  3,  1898,  and  arrived  at  Ba- 
quiri, Cuba,  July  9,  1898;  disembarked  all  the  horses 
preparatory  to  march,  but  were  ordered  to  re-embark 
to  join  General  Miles's  expedition  to  Porto  Rico;  left 
Baquiri  July  21,  1898,  and  arrived  at  Guanica  July  25, 
1898;  marched  from  Guanica  to  Ponce,  Porto  Rico, 
July  30,  1898,  arriving  there  August  1 1,  1898;  left  Ponce 
August  8,  1898,  as  part  of  General  Swan's  brigade,  con- 
sisting of  Troop  "A,"  Fifth  Cavalry,  Light  Battery 
"  C,"  Third  Artillery,  Light  Battery  "  D,"  Fifth  Artil- 

*  A  photogravure  plate  shows  this  battery  as  at  present  organ- 
ized and  equipped  at  Fort  Sheridan,  111. 


LIGHT  BATTERY  89 

lery,  and  Eleventh  Regiment  of  Infantry;  taking  the 
western  coast  of  the  island  by  way  of  Tallopoo  Yucca, 
Sabana  Grande,  Mayaguez,  and  Los  Morias;  engaged 
with  Spanish  forces  near  Hormigueros  August  10,  1898, 
where  the  battery  had  three  men  and  three  horses 
wounded,  all  of  whom  recovered;  returned  and  went 
into  permanent  camp  at  Mayaguez  August  16,  1898, 
and  remained  there  until  November  3,  1898,  when  the 
battery  moved  into  the  city  and  were  provided  with 
barracks  and  stables;  left  Mayaguez  November  23,  1898, 
and  arrived  at  Savannah,  Ga.,  December  i,  1898,  where 
it  remained  in  camp  until  its  departure  for  Fort 
Sheridan,  111.,  where  it  arrived  January  13,  1899. 

Battery  "  D  "  of  the  Fifth  Artillery,  the  West  Point 
battery,  did  not  return  to  West  Point  after  the  Civil 
War.  New  horses  had  been  purchased  for  the  Academy, 
and  a  new  battery  organized  in  its  stead. 

And  now  a  few  words  on  the  subject  of  the  light  ar- 
tillery arm  of  our  service: 

A  light  battery  organization  existed  in  our  service 
between  the  years  of  1820  and  1835.  This  organization 
was  however  never  mounted  —  a  mere  paper  arrange- 
ment. It  was  not  then  until  Ringgold's  battery  of  horse 
artillery  appeared  in  1838,  and  was  followed  by  the  bat- 
teries of  Duncan,  Washington,  and  Frank  Taylor,  that 
we  could  be  said  to  have  had  any  light  artil- 
lery in  this  country.  The  distinction  between  the 
light  batteries  of  the  Mexican  War  —  Washington's  and 
Taylor's  —  and  the  horse  batteries  of  Ringgold  and 


90  WEST   POINT 

Duncan,  is  that  the  horse  battery  organization  required 
all  cannon'eers  to  be  mounted,  none  riding-  upon  the  lim- 
bers and  caissons,  as  is  provided  for  in  the  light  battery. 
The  celerity  of  movement  of  the  horse  battery  gave  to  it 
the  designation,  "Flying  Artillery."  "The  paper  organi- 
zation of  the  light  artillery  required  a  uniform*  for  both 
officers  and  men,  which  was  very  showy,  and  they  were 
very  proud  of  it.  The  coat  of  blue  cloth  was  short,  with 
three  rows  of  buttons,  and  profusely  covered  with  gold 
lace;  pantaloons  tight,  of  white  cassimere,  with  boots  to 
the  knees.  Gold  wings  were  worn  upon  the  shoulders 
and  spurs  were  always  worn.  The  saber-belt  had  at- 
tached to  it  a  dispatch-bag,  called  a  sabre-tache,  which 
was  bound  with  gold  lace  and  ornamented  on  the  flap 
with  gold  embroidered  letters,  "  L.  A."  The  cap  was 
also  much  ornamented.  The  men,  instead  of  boots, 
wore  long  black  cloth  gaiters,  coming  up  square  under 
the  knees,  after  the  manner  of  the  "  Old  Guard."  The 
great  feature  of  the  regiment  was  the  mess,  as  in  those 
days  there  were  but  two  of  the  officers  married,  only 
one  at  headquarters.  All  officers  were  required  to  dine 
in  dress  uniform,  and  each  officer  was  attended  by  a 
soldier,  also  in  full  dress."  The  dinner  was  the  event  of 
the  day,  especially  on  those  days  when  guests  were 
present. 

When  news  was  brought  of  the  battle  of  Palo  Alto, 
Texas,  which  occurred  on  May  8,  1846,  it  was  learned 
that  Major  Samuel  Ringgold  had  been  mortally 

*  Uniform  described  in  Haskin's  History  of  the  First  Artillery. 


LIGHT  BATTERY  91 

wounded  while  gallantly  directing  the  fire  of  the  battery 
of  horse  artillery  under  his  command,  and  that  later  he 
died  of  wounds,  May  n,  1846,  at  Point  Isabel,  Texas. 

As  the  irritation  on  the  frontier  (more  particularly 
the  southwest  frontier)  increased,  he  was  indefatigable 
in  perfecting  the  new  arm  of  our  sendee  —  the  "  Flying 
Artillery." 

"  He  was  indeed  the  first  to  conceive  this  scheme,  was 
profoundly  interested  in  its  development,  and  labored 
to  such  a  degree  that  he  suffered  a  complete  collapse, 
experiencing  a  long  and  painful  illness. 

During  the  most  acute  and  dangerous  period  of  his 
malady,  doctors  were  called  in  consultation.  When  the 
doctor  came  into  the  room,  Major  Ringgold  feebly  mo- 
tioned him  to  his  bedside  and  asked  him  for  an  opinion 
as  to  his  prospects  of  recovery.  The  doctor  told  him  of 
his  perilous  condition,  but  said  there  was  a  gleam  of 
hope.  "  Save  me,  doctor,  if  possible."  Then,  closing 
his  eyes  for  a  moment,  he  uttered  these  words,  as  if  in 
prayer,  Oh,  God!  let  me  die  on  the  field  of  battle."  The 
scene  was  dramatic;  the  words  seemed  prophetic.  Ring- 
gold  soon  recovered.  The  war  began  in  1846,  and 
Ringgold  went  at  once  to  the  front." 

In  Patton's  "  History  of  the  American  People  "  we 
find  that  "  To  Major  Ringgold  was  due  much  of  the 
credit  for  that  perfection  of  drill  and  rapidity  of  move- 
ment which  the  American  flying  artillery  exhibited  on 
battlefields  during  this  war."  Of  the  battle  of  Palo 
Alto,  we  read,  "  The  enemy  lost  four  hundred  men,  while 
the  Americans  had  only  nine  killed  and  forty-four 


92  WEST  POINT 

wounded;  but  among  the  former  was  Major  Ring-gold, 
universally  lamented,  both  as  an  officer  and  a  Christian 
gentleman;  as  his  officers  offered  him  assistance  when 
wounded,  he  said:  "  Leave  me  alone,  you  are  wanted 
forward."  His  prayer  was  answered;  he  died  upon  the 
field  of  battle.  There,  too,  was  James  Duncan,  side  by 
side  with  Ringgold  at  Palo  Alto  with  his  battery  of  fly- 
ing artillery.  He  was  breveted  major  for  this  action, 
and  for  gallant  and  highly  distinguished  conduct  in  the 
battles  of  Resaca  de  la  Palma  and  Monterey  breveted 
lieutenant-colonel;  later  for  like  distinguished  conduct 
at  Vera  Cruz  and  Cerro  Gordo  he  was  breveted  colonel. 
Ringgold  and  Duncan,  what  names!  What  inspiration 
for  light  artillery  men  of  later  wars!  If  indeed  such 
inspiration  were  needed.  History  tells  us  that  the 
United  States  Army  in  1845  numbered  about  five  thou- 
sand men.  Three  thousand  five  hundred  of  these  were 
at  Corpus  Christi,  Texas,  under  General  Zachary  Tay- 
lor. In  March,  1846,  Taylor  moved  southward  to  a 
point  on  the  Rio  Grande  opposite  Matamoras,  at  the 
time  calling  upon  the  Governors  of  Louisiana  and 
Texas  for  five  thousand  volunteers.  On  the  ist  of 
May  he  moved  eastward  with  his  main  body  to  open 
communication  with  Point  Isabel.  To  intercept  his 
return,  the  Mexican  General,  Arista,  moved  with  about 
six  thousand  men  to  Palo  Alto,  nine  miles  from  Mata- 
moras, and  planted  his  force  across  the  road.  Taylor's 
returning  column  reached  this  point  on  the  8th  of 
May,  and  gave  battle.  Two  eighteen-pounder  and  two 
light  batteries  (Ringgold's  and  Duncan's)  made  dreadful 


LIGHT   BATTERY  93 

havoc  in  the  close  ranks  of  the  Mexican  infantry,  while 
an  attempt  to  turn  the  American  right  was  promptly 
thwarted.  The  prairie  grass  between  the  contending 
lines  took  fire,  and  behind  the  curtain  of  smoke  Arista 
drew  back  his  left;  Taylor  made  a  corresponding  change, 
advanced  his  artillery  again,  and  renewed  the  fight.  The 
movement  to  turn  the  American  left  was  discovered, 
and  the  guns  of  Ringgold's  battery  were  wheeled  round 
to  meet  him,  and  under  their  steady  fire  the  attacking 
column  was  put  to  flight.  It  was  at  this  juncture  the 
gallant  Ringgold  fell,  mortally  wounded.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  Mexicans  were  astonished  at  the  celerity  of 
our  light  battery  movements,  and  that  the  victories  of 
Zachary  Taylor  over  the  Mexicans  (always  a  superior 
force)  were  due  to  the  efficiency  of  the  artillery  arm  of 
his  army,  notwithstanding  the  excellent  mounts  and  the 
brave  and  impetuous  character  of  the  Mexican  troops. 

Ringgold's  battery  took  an  active  part  in  the  first 
battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  Duncan's  battery,  with  its  vet- 
eran noncommissioned  officers,  arrived  for  duty  at  Alex- 
andria, Va.,  from  Fort  Pickens,  Fla.,  but  at  so  late  an 
hour,  and  the  horses  were  so  ill-conditioned  from  the 
voyage,  that  the  battery  could  not  be  pushed  to  the 
front  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  battle;  but  took  position 
at  Centreville  with  the  reserve,  and  for  outpost  duty, 
or  in  the  defenses  of  the  Capital  of  the  Nation. 

Owing  to  the  laurels  that  this  battery  had  won  in 
the  Mexican  War,  and  its  very  efficient  condition,  Gen- 
eral McClellan  made  it  a  horse  battery,  the  first  horse 
battery,  in  fact,  organized  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 


94  WEST   POINT 

War.  After  joining  the  reserve  camp  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  at  a  point  east  of  the  Capitol  building  in 
Washington,  it  was  shown  greater  consideration  than 
any  other  battery,  with  Tidball  commanding.  It  was 
admirably  equipped,  and  appeared  always  at  review  in 
full  dress  uniform,  wearing  the  horsehair  plumes  which 
were  not  in  any  other  case  issued  as  a  part  of  the  field 
equipment.  The  battery,  when  at  drill,  almost  imme- 
diately broke  into  the  gallop  and  kept  up  a  lively  pace 
throughout  its  manoeuvres. 

This  practice  was  given  to  qualify  the  battery  to  ma- 
noeuvre with  cavalry.  The  guns  were  of  the  lightest 
calibre,  twelve-pound  howitzers,  with  range  so  short 
that  its  work  could  only  be  done  at  close  quarters. 

An  amusing  incident  occurred  at  drill  on  an  October 
morning  when  the  Sixth  Cavalry  (Cameron's  Own), 
an  entirely  new  organization,  men  barely  able  to  sit 
astride  their  horses,  was  drawn  up  in  line  for  parade. 
The  regiment  presented  at  a  distance  a  very  striking 
appearance.  The  officers  were  in  line  in  front  of  their 
companies;  the  band  was  at  its  post,  and  the  regiment 
had  received  its  colors;  the  glittering  blades  of  the 
troopers  reflected  the  rays  of  the  morning  sun;  and 
the  whole  made  an  impressive  tableau.  The  battery 
at  a  gallop  swung  around  at  the  command,  "  Action 
front,"  unlimbered  quite  near  to  and  in  front  of  the 
regiment  and  loaded  with  blank  cartridges.  Captain 
Tidball,  in  a  spirit  of  deviltry,  had  given  the  order  to 
load  with  blank  cartridges,  and  fire.  We  limbered  up, 
and  were  off  again  at  the  gallop  to  some  other  part  of  the 


LIGHT  BATTERY  95 

field;  the  smoke  clearing  away  revealed  no  trace  of  the 
regiment.  A  panic  had  seized  upon  all  the  horses, 
and  the  streets  of  east  Washington  were  crowded  with 
runaways.  Some  twenty  or  more  men  were  on  the 
ground  where  the  regiment  had  before  been  in  line, 
and  the  horses  were  nowhere  to  be  seen.  For  some 
days  intercourse  between  the  colonel  of  the  Sixth 
Cavalry  and  the  captain  of  Battery  "  A  "  of  the  Second 
Artillery  was  suspended,  and  here  we  may  add  that, 
had  this  incident  occurred  at  West  Point,  as  between 
old  cadets  and  plebes,  it  would  have  been  been  regarded 
as  a  simple  case  of  hazing.  The  Sixth  Cavalry  had  been 
hazed;  it  had  received  its  baptism  of  fire;  the  experi- 
ence may  have  saved  the  regiment  from  embarrassment 
on  some  later  occasion. 

Ringgold's  battery*  was  pushed  to  the  front  at  Bull 
Run,  and  did  as  good  execution  as  the  batteries  of 
Griffin  and  Ricketts.  The  battery  was  at  the  time  com- 
manded by  Capt.  Richard  Arnold,  the  officer  who  suc- 
ceeded "  Tim  "  Sherman,  then  acting  as  brigade  com- 
mander. This  battery  had  been  serving  in  Washington 
City  for  some  months  prior  to  the  battle  of  Bull  Run, 
and  was  at  the  time  known  as  Sherman's  White  Horse 
Battery  (E  of  the  Third).  When  "Tim"  Sherman 
organized  his  expedition  to  South  Carolina  in  1861, 
he  was  allowed  to  take  with  him  his  old  battery,  then 
commanded  by  Lieut.  J.  R.  Myrick.  In  the  engage- 

*  Duncan's  and  Ringgold's  were  twin  horse  batteries  during  the 
Mexican  War. 


96  WEST  POINT 

ment  with  the  enemy  on  Morris  Island,  S.  C,  July  10, 
1863,  this  battery  was  assigned  position  in  the  front  line. 

We  have  referred  to  Ringgold  as  the  light  artillery 
hero  of  the  Mexican  War;  his  loss  was  the  more  con- 
spicuous from  the  fact  that  he  was  one  of  but  nine  in 
our  Army  killed  at  Palo  Alto. 

What  further  shall  we  say  of  Gushing,  a  second  Ring- 
gold,  and  of  his  battery  at  Gettysburg? 

The  battery  lost  in  action  all  of  its  commissioned 
officers,  more  than  half  of  its  men,  and  all  the  battery 
horses  save  five  (89  out  of  94). 

At  this  juncture  First  Sergeant,  now  Major,  Fiiger 
assumed  command.  He  says:  "We  fired  canister, 
double  and  treble  charges,  but  still  the  Confederates 
came  on;  owing  to  the  dense  smoke  I  could  not  see 
very  far  to  the  front,  but  to  my  utter  astonishment  and 
surprise  I  saw  General  Armistead  leap  over  the  stone 
wall  with  about  two  hundred  of  his  men,  landing  righti 
in  the  midst  of  our  battery;  but  my  devoted  cannoneers 
stood  their  ground,  fighting  hand  to  hand  with  pistols, 
sabres,  handspikes,  and  rammers,  until  the  enemy  was 
driven  out  of  the  battery  by  General  Tubbs's  brigade, 
and  Pickett's  column  collapsed.  General  Armistead  fell 
mortally  wounded  a  few  yards  from  where  Lieutenant 
Gushing  fell,  his  young  and  gallant  adversary.  It  has 
been  asked,  what  other  than  Southern  troops  would  have 
made  that  charge?  Ay,  sir;  but  what  other  than  North- 
ern troops  would  have  met  and  repulsed  it?  Northern 
endurance  and  pluck  were  more  than  a  match  for  South- 


LIGHT  BATTERY  97 

ern  dash.  In  this  bloody  charge  scores  of  their  officers 
went  down  —  Armistead  and  Garnett  killed,  Kemper 
badly  wounded  —  and  of  the  whole  number  of  field  offi- 
cers of  this  splendid  division  which  advanced  so  proudly 
across  the  field,  Pickett  and  a  lieutenant-colonel  alone 
remained.  In  front  of  Battery  '  A '  over  six  hundred 
of  Pickett's  men  were  founded  dead;  out  of  his  whole 
division,  five  thousand  strong,  Pickett  returned  with 
one  thousand.  Pickett's  men  did  all  that  mortal  men 
could  do. 

"  The  aggregate  of  killed  and  wounded  on  each  side 
in  this  action  probably  fell  little  short  of  eight  thousand 
killed  and  thirty-five  thousand  wounded." 

At  the  great  battle  of  Waterloo,*  one  of  the  fifteen 
decisive  battles  of  the  world,  a  battle  which  decided 
the  fate  and  changed  the  geography  of  all  Europe, 
Napoleon  had  eighty-two  thousand  men,  not  including 
Grouchy,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  guns.  Welling- 
ton, with  the  allies,  had  one  hundred  and  seven 
thousand  men,  or  but  seventy-two  thousand  before  the 
Prussians  came  up,  and  over  two  hundred  guns.  They 
lost  on  each  side  in  killed  and  wounded  about  twenty- 
three  thousand  men,  a  less  percentage  of  loss  for 
the  allies  than  the  French.  Compare  with  the  battle 
of  Waterloo  that  of  Gettysburg,  and  there  is  a  wonder- 
ful similarity  between  the  two  in  some  respects.  Gen- 
eral Meade  had  in  his  army  almost  precisely  the  same 
number  of  men  Napoleon  had  at  Waterloo.  He  had 

*  This  data  is  derived  in  part  from  the  Army  and  Navy  Journal. 
7 


98  WEST  POINT 

eighty-two  thousand  men,  with  the  Sixth  Corps  in  re- 
serve, with  two  hundred  and  fifty  guns.  Lee  had  an 
army  of  seventy-two  thousand  men,  with  two  hundred 
guns.  The  losses  were  twenty-three  thousand  on  each 
side  in  that  engagement,  almost  identical  with  the  losses 
at  Waterloo. 

"  The  battle  between  the  French  and  Russians  at 
Borodino  was  perhaps  the  bloodiest  battle  since  the  in- 
vention of  gunpowder;  there  were  thirty  thousand  men 
killed  on  each  side.  But  as  each  army  numbered  over 
one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand,  the  per  cent,  of  loss 
was  less  than  at  Gettysburg  and  less  than  at  Waterloo. 
Take  the  great  battle  at  Leipzig,  where  Napoleon  had 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  men  and  where 
the  allies  had  on  the  first  day  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  thousand,  increased  on  the  next  day  by  reinforce- 
ments to  three  hundred  and  thirty  thousand.  There 
were  about  forty  thousand  killed  on  each  side.  Yet 
the  very  largest  numbers  engaged  in  that  battle  made 
the  per  cent,  of  loss  very  much  less  than  at  Gettysburg 
or  Waterloo." 

Here  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  loss  at  Gettysburg: 
"The  Twenty-sixth  North  Carolina  Regiment  was 
eight  hundred  and  twenty  strong.  It  had  eighty-six 
killed  and  five  hundred  and  two  wounded,  making  a 
total  of  five  hundred  and  eighty-eight,  or  seventy-one 
and  seven-tenths  per  cent.  That  was  in  the  first  day's 
battle;  but  the  most  remarkable  part  of  it  is  that  this 
regiment  on  the  third  day's  fight  turned  up  with  a  little 
remnant  of  two  hundred  and  sixteen  men  out  of  their 


LIGHT  BATTERY  99 

eight  hundred  and  twenty,  participated  in  Pickett's 
gallant  charge,  and  came  out  with  only  eighty  men  left 
There  was  a  company  in  that  regiment  —  Captain 
Tuttle's  company  —  that  went  in  with  three  officers  and 
eighty-four  men  and  came  out  with  only  one  officer  and 
one  man."*t 

*  Army  and   Navy  Journal. 

t  So  much  uncertainty  attaches  in  estimates  of  the  kind  given 
above  that  the  writer  has  been  at  pains  to  more  exactly  determine 
the  numbers  at  Waterloo: 

French  —  Infantry    48,950 

Cavalry    15,765 

Artillery    7,232 


Total    71,947 


Bulow's  Prussian  Corps  made  itself  felt  on  the  field  at  2  o'clock, 
and  before  the  charge  of  the  Imperial  Guard  at  7  o'clock  had  30,000 
men  engaged  on  Planchenoit,  in  the  rear  of  the  French  right.  Just 
as  the  Guard  was  repulsed,  Ziethen's  Prussian  Corps  attacked  the 
right  of  D'Erlon's  Corps  and  completed  the  defeat  of  the  French. 
Ziethen  had  at  least  10,000  men  engaged.  Add  this  10,000  to  Bu- 
low's 30,000,  and  we  have  40,000  Prussians  coming  to  the  aid  of, 
and  actually  fighting  (with  heavy  loss)  in  aid  of,  the  67,000  British 
troops.  The  allies  had  therefore  107,000  men  against  the  French 
71,000. 


CHAPTER  VI 
GRADUATED  AND   ASSIGNED 

(Field  service.) 

THE  graduation  of  the  junior  class  of  1861  was  not 
marked  by  the  customary  exercises  and  cere- 
monies, the  class  surrendering  its  "  graduating 
furlough  "  and  proceeding  at  once  to  the  field. 

Before  a  determination  had  been  reached  respecting 
the  graduation  of  the  class,  a  petition,  signed  by  all  of 
its  members,  was  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  re- 
questing that  the  class  be  allowed  to  graduate  at  an 
early  date,  in  order  to  take  the  field.  The  petition  was 
almost  immediately  considered,  and  a  few  days  there- 
after the  class  was  hastily  examined  in  its  second  class 
course  of  study.  Such  portion  of  the  first  class  course 
as  could  be  mastered  in  the  short  remaining  period, 
before  the  date  set  for  graduation,  was  taken  up  at  once 
and  pursued  until  late  in  the  month  of  June. 

We  were  marched  into  camp  with  the  cadet  battalion 
and  remained  at  West  Point  for  a  few  days  thereafter 
to  complete  a  short  course  of  practical  engineering. 
On  the  24th  of  June  the  class  reported  for  duty  to  Gen. 
Winfield  Scott,  at  Headquarters  of  the  Army,  Wash- 
ington City,  D.  C. 

Arriving  at  the  depot  in  Washington  City,  we  were 

100 


GRADUATED  AND  ASSIGNED  101 

met  by  a  remarkably  fine-looking  officer,  Lieut.  Douglas 
Ramsay,  of  Ricketts'  light  battery.  It  was  but  one 
month  afterward  that  this  gallant  young  officer  was  fol- 
lowed to  his  grave  by  those  of  the  class  who  had  been 
assigned  to  his  arm  of  service;  on  the  field  of  Manassas 
his  captain  was  wounded,  his  battery  was  completely 
wrecked,  and  he  himself  was  killed. 

Mr.  Lincoln  came  over  from  the  White  House  to 
General  Scott's  office  for  the  express  purpose  of  bidding 
us  welcome  to  the  service.  After  this  ceremony  was 
gone  through  with,  we  proceeded  to  the  headquarters 
of  the  General  commanding  the  defenses  of  Washington, 
and  reported  to  him  for  assignment  to  duty  as  instruct- 
ors or  drill  masters  of  the  "  three  months'  regiments," 
all  of  which  were  encamped  in  and  around  the  cities  of 
Washington,  Georgetown,  and  Alexandria.  General 
Mansfield  gave  specific  instructions  to  all,  the  writer 
remaining  at  headquarters  as  his  aide-de-camp. 

During  the  entire  day  of  the  Bull  Run  battle,  Sunday, 
July  2  ist,  the  General's  aides  were  in  the  saddle,  for- 
warding troops  to  McDowell's  Army.  Late  in  the  after- 
noon, grave  apprehension  as  to  the  result  of  the  con- 
flict was  felt,  since  the  firing  of  the  artillery  became  more 
and  more  distinct  as  the  day  advanced,  and  this  augured 
ill  for  the  Union  Army. 

When  the  aids  were  assembled  in  the  office  of  General 
Mansfield,  late  in  the  day,  he  rose  from  his  seat,  closed 
the  door,  and  drawing  a  telegram  from  his  breast  pocket, 
read  aloud  these  words:  "  The  left  wing  of  the  Army  is 
in  retreat  upon  Centreville  "  —  a  telegram  from  Gen- 


102  WEST  POINT 

eral  McDowell  to  General  Scott.  At  the  moment  we 
were  made  aware  of  this  unfortunate  state  of  affairs, 
a  tap  on  the  door  was  followed  by  the  entrance  of  an 
orderly  from  General  Scott's  headquarters.  The  tele- 
gram this  time  read :  "  The  Army  is  in  full  retreat  upon 
Centreville."  General  Mansfield  was  much  excited  and 
kept  us  in  suspense,  by  not  reading  the  message  aloud. 
He  paced  the  floor  for  quite  a  time,  apparently  greatly 
disturbed  in  mind,  and,  finally  turning  to  his  aides,  said: 
"The  worst  has  happened  that  could  have  happened; 
our  Army  is  defeated,  in  full  retreat  on  Centreville;  and 
I  fear  it  is  a  rout."  "  Go  to  your  quarters,  gentlemen," 
he  then  said,  "  and  prepare  for  a  night's  ride  over  the 
river;  we  will  require  the  Second  Cavalry  escort."  The 
General  and  staff  started  from  headquarters  about  9 
p.  M.,  and,  crossing  the  Potomac,  spent  the  night  in  vain 
endeavor  to  accomplish  something  and  to  ascertain  the 
real  condition  of  affairs  at  the  front. 

Directions  had  been  given  by  the  General  command- 
ing before  starting  for  the  front  that,  in  the  event  of  the 
advance  of  the  Confederates  that  night,  all  the  church 
and  fire  bells  throughout  the  city  should  be  rung.  What 
there  was  to  be  accomplished  by  such  warning  was  hard 
to  tell,  as  the  sound  of  the  bells  would  have  brought 
joy  to  the  hearts  of  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  a 
city  which,  like  its  sister  city,  Baltimore,  was  disloyal 
to  its  heart's  core. 

That  dismal  night  ride  on  the  south  side  of  the  Poto- 
mac discovered  to  us  nothing  but  isolated  figures  flitting 
here  and  there  in  the  darkness,  and  all  tending  toward 


GRADUATED  AND  ASSIGNED  103 

the  Potomac  long  bridge  and  the  Georgetown  Aqueduct 
bridge.  Picnickers  who  had  gone  out  in  strong  force 
to  see  the  fight,  many  in  hacks,  were  the  first  to  block 
travel  over  the  bridges,  in  their  mad  haste  to  escape 
from  that  night-mare  of  the  Army,  the  "Black  Horse 
Cavalry."  The  day  following  this  night  was  a  dreary 
one  indeed;  drizzling  rain,  with  heavy  clouds  hanging 
over  as  a  pall.  Fragments  of  regiments  reported  at 
headquarters  from  hour  to  hour,  in  bodies  of  a  dozen 
or  more,  each  squad  claiming  to  be  "  all  that  is  left  of 
our  regiment."  Confidence  fortunately  was  restored 
in  the  course  of  a  few  days,  after  it  was  ascertained  that 
the  regiments  had  not  really  been  "  annihilated"  and 
that  the  stragglers  were  reassembling  on  their  old  camp 
grounds.  We  were  also  encouraged  to  believe  that  the 
Confederates  were  as  much  demoralized  by  victory  as 
we  had  been  by  defeat. 

This  day's  awakening  of  the  American  people  verified, 
as  time  showed,  the  old  adage,  that  the  uses  of  adversity 
are  sweet  indeed.  Our  loss  was  far  less  than  at  first 
reported,  but  we  were  sorely  wounded  in  our  pride  and 
prestige.  Of  course  valuable  lives  were  sacrificed  on 
both  sides,  and  many  of  our  men  were  made  prisoners 
of  war,  but  the  loss  was  by  no  means  commensurate  with 
the  force  engaged,  and  inconsiderable  when  compared 
with  that  of  later  conflicts. 

One  of  the  aides-de-camp  was  sent  out  to  Bailey's 
Crossroads  to  bring  in  a  regiment  which  had  been  in- 
advertently left  far  beyond  the  line  of  pickets.  Through- 
out this  ride  he  was  met  by  taunts  and  jeers  as  he  passed 


104  WEST  POINT 

the  farmhouses  along  the  route,  and  the  dogs  were  set 
upon  him. 

This  officer,  on  returning,  had  reached  a  point  on  the 
monument  road  (a  section  of  the  city  then  called  "  Mur- 
der Bay  ")  about  midnight,  when  a  man  darted  out  in 
the  darkness,  from  behind  a  treebox,  and,  seizing  his 
horse  by  the  bit  and  rein,  bade  him  dismount  and  give 
up  his  horse.  Two  men  ran  up  at  this  moment,  and  their 
coming  terminated  the  struggle.  The  assailant  feigned 
drunkenness,  so  that  there  was  no  opportunity  afforded 
the  officer  to  shoot  the  scoundrel,  except  at  risk  of  the 
life  of  those  who  had  come  to  the  rescue.  The  man 
was  consigned  to  the  provost-marshal's  guardhouse,  and 
later  it  was  learned  that  he  was  a  private  soldier  in  the 
Union  Army,  and,  like  hundreds  of  others  in  the  city, 
was  endeavoring  to  effect  his  escape  by  stealing  a  horse. 
In  fact  this  incident  is  mentioned  to  show  that  it  was 
impossible  for  an  officer  or  indeed  any  one  to  hitch 
his  horse,  after  the  Bull  Run  disaster,  at  any  point 
in  the  streets  of  Washington  City  with  any  certainty 
that  some  one  would  not  come  along,  mount  the  animal, 
and  ride  him  to  death,  on  a  North  and  South  line,  for 
home.  A  cordon  of  sentinels  had  been  stationed  around 
the  city  and  at  the  railroad  depots,  and  this  rendered 
escape  from  service  almost,  if  not  quite,  impossible,  ex- 
cept when  effected  by  deserters  possessing  themselves 
of  horses. 

General  Scott  retired  from  active  service  a  few  days 
after  the  Bull  Run  disaster,  and  was  succeeded  by  Gen. 
George  B.  McClellan,  who  came  to  the  defense  of  Wash- 


GRADUATED  AND  ASSIGNED  105 

ing-ton  City  with  the  prestige  of  his  West  Virginia 
campaign.  His  first  step  in  perfecting  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  to  get  his  ar- 
tillery into  good  shape;  and  his  first  order  directed  that 
all  artillery  officers  serving-  on  staff  duty  should  at  once 
join  their  batteries.  This  order  carried  the  writer  to 
Tidball's  battery,  then  camped  near  the  long  bridge 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Potomac,  and  for  some  months 
sections  of  this  battery  were  by  daily  alternation  on 
outpost  duty  at  Arlington  Mills  or  other  advanced 
points  on  the  lines  of  approach  to  the  city  of  Wash- 
ing-ton. The  officers  and  men  of  the  battery  were  all 
afflicted  with  malarial  fever,  but  not  to  an  extent  such 
as  to  disqualify  them  for  duty.  Toward  the  fall  of  the 
year  the  battery  was  withdrawn  from  the  right  bank 
of  the  Potomac  and  placed  in  the  artillery  reserve  in 
the  city  of  Washington,  east  of  the  Capitol.  General 
Barry,  who  had  been  its  commander  after  Duncan,  and 
before  Tidball,  and  who  was  the  Chief  of  Artillery  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  was  much  inclined  to  favor 
his  old  battery;  and  caused  it,  as  before  stated,  to  be 
made  a  horse  artillery  battery,  for  the  purpose  of  ma- 
noeuvring with  cavalry. 

There  was  one  feature  in  the  case  of  our  defeat  at 
Bull  Run  which  may  be  of  interest  to  those  not  familiar 
with  the  true  condition  of  affairs  on  that  battlefield, 
and  which  occurred  during  the  retreat  of  our  Army 
from  Bull  Run  to  Centreville.  It  has  been  shown 
how  the  West  Point  battery,  Griffin  commanding,  and 
Battery  "  I "  of  the  First  Artillery,  Ricketts  command- 


106  WEST   POINT 

ing,  suffered  in  this  action  a  very  heavy  loss  both 
in  men  and  horses  —  the  guns  of  both  batteries 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  This,  as  be- 
fore stated,  was  chiefly  due  to  the  fact  that  Griffin 
was  not  allowed  to  open  fire  upon  a  Confederate  regi- 
ment, as  he  desired,  because  he  was  advised  that  this 
was  a  Union  regiment  and  one  of  his  battery  supports. 
The  point  to  which  we  would  now  make  special  refer- 
ence is  this:  The  right  wing  of  our  Army  in  the  ad- 
vance made  a  detour  on  a  U-shaped  line  some  ten  miles 
or  more  in  extent,  while  the  distance  from  the  start  to 
the  finish  across  the  arms  of  the  U  was  not  more  than 
a  half  mile.  The  men  who  had  followed  on  the  arms 
of  the  U  in  this  advance  did  not,  in  fact  could  not, 
appreciate  the  real  conditions  of  their  march,  and  very 
naturally,  when  on  the  retreat,  followed  the  road  or  roads 
by  which  they  had  advanced.  So  blocked  were  these 
roads  by  men  and  material  that  the  enemy's  cavalry 
could  not  penetrate  the  mass,  but  nevertheless  greatly 
harassed  the  rear  guard,  a  plucky  little  battalion  of 
some  two  hundred  regular  infantry.  After  our  troops 
had  traversed  a  distance  of  some  ten  miles  in  re- 
treat, the  field  batteries  of  the  Confederate  Army 
and  their  "  Black  Horse  Cavalry "  fell  upon  our 
flanks,  and  this  indeed  without  having  to  make  any 
advance  whatever.  The  impression  nevertheless  cre- 
ated upon  the  minds  of  those  in  flight  was,  that 
they  had  been  followed  for  ten  miles  or  more; 
that  the  rear  column  was  probably  annihilated,  and 
that  this  cavalry  had  cut  its  way  through  and  was 


GRADUATED  AND  ASSIGNED  107 

closing  upon  the  centre  and  even  the  head  of  the  col- 
umn. Such  impression  was,  as  all  must  agree,  well  cal- 
culated to  throw  even  the  very  best  troops  into  a  panic. 
This  attack  of  the  Black  Horse  Cavalry  was  effected 
by  simply  fording  Bull  Run  stream,  or  crossing  over 
by  one  of  its  several  bridges.  The  appearance  of  cav- 
alry, under  these  circumstances,  filled  our  troops  with 
dismay,  and  on  all  sides  the  most  exaggerated  stories 
were  told  of  the  "terrible  Black  Horse  Cavalry." 

It  was  perfectly  clear  to  all,  after  the  Bull  Run  dis- 
aster, that  the  light  batteries  were  not  suitable  for  out- 
post duty.  The  several  sections  of  the  batteries  (two 
guns  and  caissons  each)  were  placed  at  the  front,  on 
the  picket  line,  where  they  actually  constituted  an  ob- 
jective for  the  enemy;  inviting  attack,  which,  except 
for  the  guns,  would  not  have  been  made.  No  pro- 
tection on  the  flanks  of  these  advanced  positions  could 
be  afforded,  and  the  enemy  in  small  force  could  readily 
have  broken  through  our  thin  line,  struck  in  by  the 
rear  and  flank,  and  probably  have  captured  the  guns. 

This  condition  was  understood  by  the  General  com- 
manding, but  there  were  other  things  to  be  considered. 
Most  of  the  remaining  regiments  of  three  months'  men 
were  far  from  reliable  and  needed  a  moral  support,  to 
be  secured  only  by  association  with  regular  troops. 
With  the  exception  of  about  two  hundred  men  of  the 
Third  United  States  Infantry,*  there  were  none  of  the 
Regular  Army  at  the  time  available  for  service  with 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  except  those  with  the  light 

*  Perhaps  a  few  others. 


108  WEST   POINT 

batteries.  Hence  it  was  that  instead  of  infantry  being 
the  support  for  artillery,  artillery  was  made  in  fact  to 
serve  as  a  support  for  the  infantry,  a  paradox  indeed; 
and  had  we  been  in  the  presence  of  an  enterprising 
adversary,  warfare  conducted  on  these  lines  would  have 
been  of  short  duration. 

In  order  to  keep  the  infantry  at  the  front,  it  was 
necessary  to  make  them  feel  that  there  was  a  reason 
for  their  being  there,  and  the  reason  held  out  to  them 
was  the  necessity  for  their  remaining  as  supports  to 
the  batteries. 

The  writer  remembers  well  the  instructions  given  by 
Captain  Tidball,  who  said,  as  a  section  of  the  battery 
was  marching  from  park:  "  Remember,  you  must  not 
lose  your  guns.  Keep  your  prolonges  always  fixed, 
and  be  prepared  to  retreat  at  once  if  an  attack  is  made 
upon  you.  Move  by  piece  down  the  road  and  at  the 
gallop.  Halt  your  pieces  at  intervals  and  fire;  pass 
pieces  alternately;  I  will  hear  your  guns,  and  will  come 
to  your  aid;  but,  remember,  you  must  make  no  stand." 
"The  infantry  supports  will  desert  you  without  doubt, 
and  you  will  lose  your  guns  if  you  don't  follow  my 
advice."  This  was  indeed  a  trying  duty,  out  at  the 
extreme  front,  with  instructions  to  keep  in  constant 
readiness  for  flight  on  the  first  appearance  of  the  enemy. 

The  night  of  the  very  day  these  instructions  had 
been  given,  the  sergeant  of  the  section  reported  that 
there  was  suspicion  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  in  the  road 
on  our  immediate  front.  The  guns  were  of  course  al- 
ways in  readiness  and  loaded  with  canister,  but  the  can- 


GRADUATED  AND  ASSIGNED  109 

noneers  were  forced  that  night  to  stand  to  their  guns 
awaiting  an  attack  and  for  several  hours. 

The  section  at  this  time  was  enveloped  in  a  heavy 
mist,  the  night  being  dark  as  pitch.  Everything  was 
held  in  readiness  for  flight,  in  accordance  with  instruc- 
tions, but  no  attack  was  made.  The  conditions  were 
indeed  far  worse  than  if  it  had  been;  since,  in  that  case, 
we  would  have  had  something  diverting  —  a  Hying  ar- 
tillery trip,  and  a  running  fight. 

Several  regiments  near  the  permanent  battery  camp, 
whose  time  had  expired,  had  threatened  to  return  to 
their  respective  States.  Conditions  were  such  however 
that  these  troops  could  not  be  spared  and  the  artillery 
was  required,  when  not  on  outpost  duty,  to  take  post 
in  threatening  attitude,  in  front  of  the  regimental  camp- 
grounds. The  instructions  were,  that  if  any  attempt 
was  made  by  the  organizations  to  strike  tents  or  break 
camp,  to  open  upon  them  and  rake  their  camps  with 
canister. 

It  was  reported  that  on  one  such  occasion  a  regiment 
procured  an  old  oxcart,  and,  in  a  spirit  of  derision, 
mounted  a  barrel  upon  it,  facing  the  guns  of  the  section. 
None  of  the  regiments  believed  that  we  were  there  for 
business;  and  regarded  our  presence  as  a  mere  menace. 
Word  was  at  once  sent  the  colonel  of  the  regiment 
that,  if  he  did  not  have  the  cart  removed,  it  would  be 
cleared  out  with  canister  in  short  order. 

Again,  one  of  these  disaffected  regiments  had  been 
"  marched  "  out  for  parade,  and,  after  being  formed 
in  line,  the  adjutant  gave  a  further  command.  Not 


110  WEST  POINT 

a  man  stirred;  the  command  was  repeated,  and  still 
the  entire  regiment  stood  in  open  mutiny.  This  con- 
dition of  affairs  was  reported  to  the  brigade  head- 
quarters, and  summary  action  taken.  A  light  battery 
was  ordered  out  and  the  threat  of  a  rain  of  canister 
soon  brought  the  men  to  terms.  We  must  here  ob- 
serve that,  throughout  the  long  years  of  our  apparently 
endless  conflict,  the  men  who  served  with  such  zeal 
and  courage  were  not  "  three  months1  men" 

There  were  many  in  the  ranks  of  the  volunteers  who 
saw  these  things  and  understood  them  quite  as  well  as 
we  did,  and  as  every  one  else  now  does  —  men  who 
had  the  firmness  of  mind  to  stay  where  they  were,  fight 
the  thing  through,  and  give  their  lives  without  hope 
of  glory.  Regiments  frequently  surprised  even  them- 
selves by  their  magnificent  work;  and  on  more  than 
one  occasion  a  general  commanding  has  pointed  to  a 
certain  regiment,  and  said:  "There  is  a  regiment  to 
be  depended  upon  in  any  emergency." 

We  want,  for  an  army,  men  not  too  eager  for  a  fight 
—  patient  and  quiet  men,  always  ready  for  any  emer- 
gency. Men  such  as  these  are  generally  found  in  the 
Regular  Army;  they  are  just  the  same  as  other  men, 
but  they  are  disciplined;  their  will  power,  though  not 
actually  broken,  is  directed.  As  individuals,  they  may 
have  no  more  courage  than  the  undisciplined  class;  but, 
having  entered  the  service  for  a  long  term  and  being 
thoroughly  drilled  (a  majority  expect  to  re-enlist),  they 
are  certain  that  they  will  get  all  the  fighting  they  have 
bargained  for,  and  are  paid  for,  even  before  the  begin- 
ning of  a  fight. 


GRADUATED  AND  ASSIGNED  111 

Our  remarks  apply  equally  as  well  to  volunteers  who 
are  in  for  a  long  period  of  service,  three  years  or  more; 
in  fact  there  should  be  no  distinction  between  the  pri- 
vate soldier  of  the  regulars  and  the  private  soldier  of 
the  volunteers;  he  is  made  of  the  same  stuff  and  is  on 
the  same  footing.  The  rank  and  file  of  both  organiza- 
tions are  recruited  in  the  same  way,  and,  if  anything, 
the  men  of  the  volunteers  ought  to  be  of  an  order  of 
intellect  superior  to  that  of  the  men  in  the  ranks  of  the 
regulars,  since  they  are  men  who  usually  command 
better  wages  in  the  ordinary  walks  of  life.  With  an 
army  conditioned  as  our  army  was  at  first,  is  it  to  be 
wondered  at  that  much  time  was  required  to  whip  it 
into  shape  for  active  service? 

McClellan,  as  a  strategist,  knew  what  the  result  would 
be,  should  he  advance  directly  upon  Richmond,  retain- 
ing Washington  City  as  his  base. 

He  knew  that  every  battle  would  be  drawn;  every 
victory  achieved  would  find  the  opposing  force  on 
shorter  lines,  while  his  army  would  be  farther  and  far- 
ther from  its  base,  and  with  its  front  more  and  more 
extended.  He  studied  the  map  as  an  engineer  and 
strategist,  and  noted  thereon  streams,  such  as  Bull  Run, 
Acquia,  Rapidan,  Rappahannock,  Matapony,  Pamunky, 
North  Anna,  South  Anna;  or,  better  still,  the  rivers 
Potomac,  York,  and  James. 

He  realized  at  once  that  these  watercourses  were 
one  and  all  defensive  lines  for  any  adversary  if  in  re- 
treat; all  running  to  the  Chesapeake  on  parallel  lines 
and  on  lines  at  right  angles  to  that  which  must  be  his 


112  WEST  POINT 

inevitable  line  of  advance  upon  Richmond.  He  did 
then  what  all  strategists  would  have  done.  He  con- 
verted what  otherwise  might  have  been  the  enemy's 
lines  of  defense  into  lines  of  operation  and  supply  for 
his  own  army,  and  this  in  the  face  of  persistent  and 
almost  irresistible  objections  from  no  less  a  man  than 
the  Secretary  of  War,  Stanton.  He  did  more  even  than 
all  this;  his  plot  was  well  laid,  and  his  enemy  appre- 
ciated and  feared  him.*  In  the  military  profession  the 
element  of  chance  enters  largely,  and  chance  —  not 
strategy,  as  his  army  at  the  time  fully  believed  —  de- 
feated McClellan.  He  had  his  faults,  grave  ones  too, 
and  others  better  informed  than  the  writer  have  made 
them  quite  clear.  Here  however  there  is  this  to  be 
said,  not  only  for  those  who  have  suffered  in  the  past 
but  for  others  yet  to  come  who  must,  upon  the  battle- 
fields of  the  future,  command  untrained  and  untried 
soldiers. 

In  the  early  days  of  any  war  in  which  our  Nation 
embarks,  there  will  inevitably  be  sacrifices  of  reputa- 
tions, for  which  even  our  best  young  soldiers  must  be 
prepared,  and  this  will  ever  continue  until  our  people 
shall  be  brought  to  realize  the  consequences  resulting 
from  a  state  of  unpreparedness  for  war. 

Fortune's  freaks  in  time  of  war  are  strange  indeed, 
and  our  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan,  Meade,  Thomas,  and 
Schofield  were  themselves  on  the  verge  of  that  fate 
which  overtook  so  many  of  their  predecessors  in  com- 
mand. Is  there  one  to  deny  this  fact? 

*  See  footnote  relating  to  the  battle  of  Malvern  Hill,  Va.,  p.  162. 


BATTERY  C,   1ST  ARTILLERY  —  FORT  SUMTER   DEMOLISHED.     "SWAMP  ANOEL"   [BURST  AND 
DISMOUNTED]    300   POUNDER   PARROTT   RIFLE. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SIEGE  OF  CHARLESTON  AND  BOMBARD- 
MENT OF  SUMTER 

AN  expedition,  under  command  of  Gen.  Thos.  W. 
Sherman,  U.  S.  A.  ("  Tim  "  Sherman),  set  sail 
from  Annapolis,  Md.,  on  October  21,  1861,  con- 
voyed by  a  fleet  of  naval  vessels  under  command  of  Com- 
modore Dupont. 

The  expedition  arrived  at  Hampton  Roads,  Va.,  on 
the  following  day  and  put  to  sea  on  the  2Qth  of  October 
under  sealed  orders,  arriving  at  Port  Royal,  S.  C.,  on 
the  ist  of  November.  Adverse  winds  and  perilous. 
storms  were  encountered,  and  several  of  the  transports, 
were  delayed  and  two  lost;  the  Winfield  Scott  had  to 
sacrifice  her  whole  cargo  and  the  Roanoke  a  portion 
of  hers  to  save  the  lives  of  the  regiments  on  board. 

The  vessels  of  the  naval  fleet  suffered  much  and  some 
of  them  were  lost.  -, 

Fort  Walker,  Hilton  Head  Island,  was  attacked  on 
November  7th  at  9:30,  and,  after  being  under  an  in- 
cessant fire  of  five  hours  from  the  fleet,  with  loss  of 
ten  killed  and  many  of  its  garrison  wounded,  the  fort 
was  evacuated  by  the  enemy. 

"  The  armament  of  the  fort  consisted  of  one  ten-inch 
Columbiad  model,  bored  to  a  thirty-two  pounder  and 
rifled;  one  eight-inch  Columbiad  model,  bored  to  a 
8  113 


114  WEST  POINT 

twenty-four  pounder;  one  eight-inch  Columbiad;  nine 
navy  thirty-two  pounders;  three  navy  forty-two  pound- 
ers; three  navy  eight-inch  Howitzers;  two  twenty-four 
pounders;  two  forty-two  pounders  carronades,  and  two 
long  English  twelve  pounders." 

General  Sherman,  in  speaking  of  this  engagement, 
says :  "  I  was  a  mere  spectator  of  the  combat,  and  it 
is  not  my  province  to  render  any  report  of  this  action, 
but  I  deem  it  an  imperative  duty  to  say  that  the  firing 
and  manoeuvring  of  our  fleet  against  that  of  the  Rebels 
and  their  formidable  land  batteries  was  a  masterpiece 
of  activity  and  professional  skill  that  must  have  elicited 
the  applause  of  the  Rebels  themselves  as  a  tactical  opera- 
tion. I  think  that  too  much  praise  cannot  be  awarded  to 
the  science  and  skill  exhibited  by  the  flag  officer  of  the 
naval  squadron  and  the  officers  connected  with  the 
ships.  I  deem  the  performance  a  masterly  one,  and 
it  ought  to  have  been  seen  to  be  fully  appreciated. 
After  the  works  were  reduced  I  took  possession  of  them 
with  the  land  forces.  The  beautifully-constructed  work 
on  Hilton  Head  was  severely  crippled  and  many  of  the 
guns  dismounted.  Much  slaughter  had  evidently  been 
made  there,  many  bodies  having  been  buried  in  the 
fort,  and  some  twenty  or  thirty  were  found  some  half 
a  mile  distant. 

"The  island  for  many  miles  was  found  strewn  with 
arms  and  accoutrements  and  baggage  of  the  Rebels, 
which  they  threw  away  in  their  hasty  retreat.  We  have 
also  come  into  possession  of  about  forty  pieces  of  ord- 
nance, most  of  which  is  of  the  heaviest  calibre  and  the 


SIEGE  OF  CHARLESTON  115 

most  approved  models,  and  a  large  quantity  of  ammu- 
nition and  camp  equipage." 

With  Hilton  Head  Island  and  Beaufort  on  the  main- 
land in  our  possession,  Fort  Pulaski  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Savannah  River  captured  April  n,  1862,  the  Union 
forces  were  as  well  established  to  break  the  enemy's 
line  of  communication  along  the  coast  as  if  Charleston 
or  Sumter  had  been  held  by  us. 

It  was  however  clear  that  there  were  other  reasons 
why  these  latter  points  should  succumb  to  the  Union 
arms.  The  blockade  of  Charleston's  fine  harbor  and 
the  various  inlets  from  the  sea  was  not  as  effective  as 
desired,  and  daily  the  low-lying  blockade  runners  with 
raking  mast  and  lead-colored  hulls  slipped  in  and  out 
through  the  cordon  of  Union  vessels  in  spite  of  the 
greatest  vigilance. 

The  squadron  had  no  searchlights  in  those  days  and 
the  fogs  hung  heavy  at  times  along  that  coast.  It  was 
however  under  cover  of  darkness  that  the  blockade  run- 
ners were  most  successful  in  entering  and  departing  from 
the  harbor.  Probably  the  largest  portion  of  the 
Confederate  importations  were  effected  through  this 
channel. 

It  was  therefore  clear  that  some  great  effort  must 
be  made  to  stop  this  traffic,  on  the  part  of  the  Con- 
federates, with  both  France  and  England,  principally 
with  the  latter  country. 

A  large  fleet  of  monitors,  together  with  the  New 
Ironsides,  had  been  ordered  to  assemble  off  this  coast 
early  in  1863.  At  that  time  this  was  the  most  for- 


116  WEST  POINT 

midable  fleet  in  the  world  in  point  of  effectiveness  of 
battleships,  and  Admiral  Dahlgren  was  honored  with 
its  command.  He  was  required  to  co-operate  with  a 
land  force  under  Gen.  Q.  A.  Gilmore,  in  a  combined 
attack  upon  Fort  Sumter  and  the  city  of  Charleston. 
There  was  still  another  and  most  important  motive 
prompting  these  operations. 

The  country  had  always  felt  that  the  flag  must  be 
once  again  run  up  on  the  staff  of  Sumter  and  its  gar- 
rison returned.  This  sentiment  was  so  strong  that  the 
talk  in  the  early  days  of  the  war  was  to  preserve  the 
original  garrison  of  the  fort,  as  far  as  practicable,  and 
restore  it  to  the  fort. 

The  operations  during  the  summer  of  1863  may  be 
said  to  have  commenced  as  early  as  May  of  that  year, 
and  it  was  expected  would  not  be  so  futile  as  earlier 
efforts  had  been  in  accomplishing  the  stated  object. 
The  purpose  of  the  General  commanding  was  to  ap- 
proach Charleston  by  way  of  the  Sea  Islands. 

After  effecting  a  lodgment  on  Folly  Island  and  forti- 
fying the  same,  work  was  commenced  at  the  north  end 
of  the  island,  where  extensive  batteries  were  constructed 
and  thirty-two  rifled  guns  with  fifteen  mortars  were 
placed  in  position.  The  Union  lines  were  no  more 
than  eight  hundred  yards  from  the  Confederate  bat- 
teries on  the  south  end  of  Morris  Island,  but  an  inlet 
between  the  two  islands  favored  our  operations.  The 
principal  work  was  done  at  night,  in  order  that  the 
purpose  of  the  Union  general  might  not  be  revealed 
to  the  enemy,  and  this  was  carried  on  with  great  secrecy, 


SIEGE  OF  CHARLESTON  117 

the  operations  being  performed  expeditiously  and  with- 
out the  use  of  horses  and  mules,  lest  the  animals  should 
by  neighing  or  braying  disclose  our  purpose. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  8th  of  July  a  demonstration 
in  force  was  made  by  way  of  James  Island,  south  of 
the  city,  which  feint  was  most  successful  in  causing 
the  withdrawal  of  the  bulk  of  the  enemy's  force  from 
the  fortifications  on  Morris  Island  lying  south  of  Fort 
Sumter. 

The  very  large  force  sent  by  way  of  James  Island  with 
a  numerous  collection  of  transports  caused  the  enemy  to 
mass  his  troops  at  that  point  to  oppose  the  advance 
upon  the  city  of  Charleston. 

The  real  purpose  of  the  Union  commander  was  to 
effect  a  landing  on  Morris  Island,  capture  the  batteries 
at  the  extreme  south  end  of  the  island,  and  as  soon  as 
practicable  move  upon  the  formidable  outworks,  Forts 
Wagner  and  Gregg,  the  latter  fort  being  at  the  extreme 
north  end  of  the  island  and  almost  within  pistol  range 
of  Fort  Sumter.  On  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  July 
the  batteries  were  manned  for  action  at  i  A.  M.,  but 
for  reasons  not  understood  at  the  time  the  action  was 
postponed  until  the  following  day. 

Gen.  Truman  Seymour,  the  brigade  commander,  en- 
tered the  batteries  and  expressed  impatience  that  the 
signal  gun  had  not  been  fired,  and  directed  that  we 
should  "  open  on  the  enemy  before  he  could  clear  for 
action,"  as  by  this  time  the  embrasures  had  been  cut 
away  and  disclosed  our  position. 

In  the  hasty  loading  of  the  first  or  signal  gun,  a 


118  WEST  POINT 

projectile  had  been  rammed  down  before  the  powder 
and  with  consequent  missfire.  The  charge  had  to  be 
withdrawn,  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  depressed,  and  the 
projectile  run  out.  This  caused  delay,  and  when  the 
gun  was  reloaded  no  aim  or  proper  elevation  was  at- 
tempted, since  this  was  simply  the  signal  gun  to  "  com- 
mence firing."  A  primer  was  hastily  inserted  in  the 
vent  and  the  gun  fired;  this,  then,  was  the  first  shot 
from  the  Union  batteries  in  the  siege  of  Charleston. 
It  so  happened  that  a  company  of  Confederate  regulars 
was  drawn  up  in  line  at  reveille  roll-call  some  two  miles 
in  the  rear  of  their  line  of  batteries,  and  that  the  signal 
gun  projectile  plowed  its  way  through  a  dozen  or  more 
empty  tents,  to  the  consternation  and  dismay  of  the 
enemy,  who  had  no  thought  of  an  attack  at  the  time. 

By  a  remarkable  coincidence  this  first  shot  was  fired 
from  Battery  "  C  "  of  the  First  Artillery,  and  the  writer 
learned  that  it  was  the  same  battery  stationed  in  Char- 
leston Harbor  in  1832,  at  a  time  on  a  day  (1832)  when 
the  redhot  shot  batteries  of  Castle  Pinckney  had  been 
prepared  to  open  upon  the  city  of  Charleston.* 

Orders  from  President  Jackson  were  received  not  to 
provoke  hostilities  and  therefore  the  contemplated  attack 
was  not  made.  Throughout  the  "  Nullification  Times  " 
no  intercourse  was  held  between  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city  of  Charleston  and  the  troops  stationed  in  that 
harbor.  It  was  not  until  a  fire  broke  out  in  the  city  and 
after  the  United  States  troops  had  rendered  valuable 

*  This  battery  was  commanded  at  the  time  by  a  first  lieutenant, 
who  was  the  father  of  the  officer  commanding  the  battery  when  it 
fired  the  first  gun  in  the  siege  of  Charleston,  July  10,  1863. 


SIEGE  OF  CHARLESTON  119 

assistance  in  its  extinguishment,  that  the  good  feeling 
between  the  inhabitants  and  the  troops  was  restored. 

It  is  a  matter  of  history  that  the  Tenth  Army  Corps 
in  the  Department  of  the  South,  after  a  prolonged 
siege  during  the  eventful  and  trying  summer  of  1863, 
finally  captured  the  whole  of  Morris  Island,  and  demol- 
ished Fort  Sumter,  leaving  it  a  mass  of  ruins,  but  still 
with  the  Confederate  flag  flying,  though  it  was  daily 
shot  away. 

The  assault  on  Fort  Wagner  on  July  18,  1863,  was 
probably  one  of  the  most  disastrous  affairs,  considering 
the  number  of  troops  engaged,  of  any  during  the  war, 
excepting  always  the  charge  of  Pickett's  division  at 
Gettysburg. 

The  bombardment  of  Fort  Wagner  on  this  date  by 
our  fleet  of  monitors  under  Dahlgren,  together  with  the 
gunboats  and  New  Ironsides,  was  the  most  beautiful 
combined  naval  and  army  contest  ever  witnessed.  The 
Union  land  batteries  consisted  of  fifty  siege  guns,  well 
placed,  many  of  them  of  large  caliber,  and  in  position 
not  far  removed  from  Fort  Wagner.*  The  bombard- 

*  General  Seymour's  official  report  of  November  10,  1863,  pub- 
lished in  Official  Records,  War  of  the  Rebellion,  series  I,  volume 

XXVIII,  part  II. 

********* 

The  guns  and  material  at  the  north  end  of  Folly  Island  were 
transferred  to  Morris  Island  *  *  *  and  by  the  night  of  July 
I7th,  in  seven  days,  twenty-five  rifled  guns  (ten,  twenty,  and  thirty 
pounders)  and  fifteen  siege  mortars,  with  the  large  supplies  required 
for  their  service,  placed  in  position.  This  labor  was  performed 
under  highly  disadvantageous  circumstances,  under  a  broiling  sun, 
with  frequent  heavy  rains  at  night,  under  constant  fire  from  the 
enemy's  batteries,  and  at  all  times  with  very  insufficient  means  of 
transportation. 


120  WEST  POINT 

ment  of  the  fort  was  most  destructive.  The  land  bat- 
teries poured  in  a  constant  hail  of  shot  throughout  the 
day,  while  the  monitors  and  the  New  Ironsides  circled 
around  on  the  water  side  of  the  fort,  delivering  fire 
from  their  fifteen-inch  smooth-bore  Dahlgrens  as  each 
in  turn  arrived  at  the  firing  point. 

There  were  ten  monitors  moving  on  the  inner,  and 
a  large  number  of  wooden  gunboats  on  the  outer 
circle.  Each  monitor  in  passing  delivered  its  shot  in 
ricochet  and  then  passed  on,  the  shot  skipping  along 
the  water  and  jumping  into  the  fort.  Ricochet  was 
the  only  fire  which  was  effective  from  the  fleet,  as  direct 
shots  buried  themselves  deep  into  the  sand  parapet,  and, 
as  it  were,  revetted  the  face  of  the  fort,  making  it  even 
stronger  than  before  the  shot  had  entered. 

The  fire  from  Wagner  was  very  desultory  toward 
the  latter  part  of  the  day  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  greater 
portion  of  the  enemy  had  been  driven  from  the  fort  and 
back  on  to  his  inner  line,  at  Battery  Gregg.  Prepara- 
tions were  next  in  order  to  assault  the  fort  after  dark, 
the  fire  of  the  batteries  and  the  fleet  being  persistently 
maintained  before  the  assaulting  column  reached  an 
indicated  point,  when  a  signal  rocket  admonished  all 
Union  guns  to  cease  firing. 

The  column  of  assault,  consisting  of  six  thousand  men, 
was  drawn  up  along  the  beach  about  5  P.  M.;  one  of 
Putnam's  New  Hampshire  regiments  at  the  head  of 
the  column  —  Colonel  Putnam,  Lieutenant  of  the  Corps 
of  Topographical  Engineers. 


SIEGE  OF  CHARLESTON  121 

It  was  thought  that  the  resistance  of  the  enemy  would 
not  be  great,  as  he  must  have  suffered  such  casualties 
during  the  day  as  to  have  largely  impaired  his  righting 
strength,  and  therefore  it  was  that  Shaw's  regiment 
(Massachusetts,  colored),  was  advanced  to  the  head  of 
the  column.  This  was  to  give  these  troops  an  oppor- 
tunity to  show  what  they  could  do  for  themselves  under 
fire,  and  to  correct  what  was  hoped  might  be  an 
erroneous  impression,  that  the  colored  race  could  not 
be  relied  upon  in  action.  In  other  words,  there  was  to 
be  an  easy  victory  ahead,  and  the  desire  was  to  give 
prestige  to  colored  organizations. 

It  is  now  well  understood  what  colored  troops  can 
do  in  action  since  their  conduct  at  Santiago,  and  their 
previous  good  work  on  the  Plains.  But  these  were 
thoroughly  disciplined  troops,  whereas  Shaw's  soldiers 
were  not  well  seasoned,  although  probably  at  the  time 
the  best  of  their  kind. 

The  enemy  during  the  day  had  retired  to  a  bomb- 
proof that  would  comfortably  accommodate  two  thou- 
sand men;  here  they  were  absolutely  safe  against  the 
mo,st  destructive  artillery  fire,  and  certain  it  is,  that  no 
rain  or  hail  of  iron  could  have  been  more  incessant  than 
that  poured  upon  the  fort  that  day. 

The  Confederates  had  taken  with  them  into  the 
bombproof  four  twelve-pounder  light  artillery  guns,  and 
well  knew  what  to  look  for  after  the  bombardment. 
The  stereotyped  formula  of  the  Union  generals  was, 
first  bombard,  and  then  assault,  and  the  Confederates 
always  laid  low  for  the  assault.  Wagner  was  surrounded 


122  WEST  POINT 

by  a  deep  ditch  protected  by  abattis  and  chevaux-de- 
f 'rises  and  there  was  no  other  approach  to  this  fort  ex- 
cept over  a  narrow  neck  of  land,  not  much  more  than 
a  company  front  in  width,  and  over  this  the  assaulting 
column  must  defile. 

Gen.  Truman  Seymour,  under  Gilmore,  with  whom 
he  was  at  the  time  serving,  was  in  command  of  the 
assaulting  column,  which  moved  slowly  up  the  beach 
in  order  not  to  arrive  at  the  neck  of  land  of  which  we 
have  spoken,  until  after  dark.  The  enemy  noted  the 
advance  and  preserved  a  dead  and  ominous  silence  in 
the  fort.  The  fire  both  from  the  fleet  and  our  land 
batteries  ceased  as  the  signal  rocket  shot  up  from  the 
shore  and  was  answered  by  another  from  the  fleet. 

For  fully  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  the  silence  was  un- 
broken save  by  the)  beating  of  the  surf  upon  the  beach. 
Just  as  the  head  of  column  reached  the  glacis  of  the  fort, 
and  our  men  were  packed  like  sardines  on  the  narrow 
neck,  "  Wagner  "  (before  appearing  as  an  ungainly  and 
misshapen  mass  of  sand)  suddenly  developed  a  fire  along 
its  entire  parapet,  and  showed  up  as  a  perfect  bastion 
fort,  illuminated  by  incessant  flashes  of  musketry  and 
flash  of  artillery.  Two  thousand  infantry  with  four  guns 
as  accessory  concentrated  their  fire  upon  the  packed 
mass  of  humanity  blocked  before  them;  now  enveloped 
in  darkness,  illuminated  only  by  the  fire  from  the  fort, 
which  it  was  useless  to  return. 

The  colored  regiment  was  down  almost  to  a  man 
and  checked  the  advance  of  the  other  troops  so  effectu- 


SIEGE  OF  CHARLESTON  123 

ally  that  Putnam  was  compelled  to  climb  over  them  with 
his  New  Hampshire  troops  and  then  up  and  over  the 
abattis,  down  into  the  ditch  and  over  the  side  of  the 
fort,  where  with  two  hundred  of  his  men  and  with  a 
small  number  of  men  from  Shaw's  regiment  this  gal- 
lant young  officer  encouraged  them  to  hold  on  until 
reinforcements  should  arrive. 

Fully  fifty  per  cent  of  the  entire  assaulting  column 
was  placed  hors  de  combat  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to 
tell  it,  and  it  was  found  to  be  quite  impossible  to  ad- 
vance those  who  were  left.  The  Confederates,  seeing 
this,  came  out  from  the  works  and  into  the  ditch  of  the 
fort  surrounding  the  bastion,  and  the  desperate  hand- 
to-hand  fighting  which  followed  admitted  of  no  quarter 
for  the  gallant  Putnam  and  his  brave  followers.  All 
were  shot  down  in  the  bastion  of  the  fort,  and  the  dead 
were  buried  where  they  fell. 

The  repulse  of  our  assaulting  column  was  so  com- 
plete and  demoralizing  that  a  mere  handful  of  men  fol- 
lowing up  the  retreating,  disorganized  force  could 
readily  have  driven  this  remnant  of  the  Union  Army 
into  the  sea.  Order  fortunately  was  restored  by  the 
following  morning,  as  all  stragglers  congregated  at  their 
regimental  camps,  the  tents  of  which  had  not  been 
"  struck." 

General  Seymour  was  badly  wounded,  so  much  so 
as  to  necessitate  his  leaving  the  Army  by  transport  for 
the  North,  one  of  his  aides  was  killed  and  another 
wounded  in  this  action.  Shaw,  the  gallant  colonel  of 
the  Massachusetts  colored  regiment,  laid  down  his  life 


124  WEST  POINT 

on  the  parapet  of  the  fort,  and  General  Strong*  of  the 
volunteers,  Captain  of  Ordnance,  U.  S.  A.,  was  killed. 
At  a  later  period  the  fort  was  captured  by  the  Union 
army,  but  only  after  prolonged  siege  operations,  our 
sapsf  having  been  run  to  the  very  sally  port  of  the  fort. 
It  was  then  found  that  the  parapet  and  all  the  outworks 
of  Wagner  had  been  used  as  cemeteries  for  the  dead; 
the  removal  of  the  least  amount  of  sand  revealing  some 
limb  of  a  human  body. 

Winter  had  set  in  and  the  major  part  of  the  command 
had  been  withdrawn  from  Morris  Island,  after  the  cap- 
ture of  the  whole  of  the  island  and  the  destruction  of 
Sumter.  Headquarters  were  removed  to  Hilton  Head, 
Port  Royal  Harbor.  Those  who  had  been  hard  worked 
during  the  summer  had  now  a  breathing  spell. 

The  composite  photogravure  plate  shows  Sumter  in 
its  demolished  condition  in  the  distance,  Fort  Moultrie 
just  beyond,  and  the  "  Swamp  Angel  "  in  the  middle 
distance.  This  two-hundred-pounder  Parrott  burst  on 
the  seventeenth  round,  its  shots  having  all  reached  the 
city  of  Charleston.  Battery  "  C,"  First  Artillery,  which 
fired  the  first  gun  in  these  siege  operations,  is  shown  in 
the  same  plate,  and  a  three-hundred-pounder  Parrott  in 
the  foreground. 

This  latter  gun  was  the  most  prominent  one  of  the 

*  Strong  and  Putnam,  killed  in  this  action,  had  both  been  first 
captains  of  the  Corps  of  Cadets. 

t  The  man  who  ran  the  saps  and  lived,  as  it  were,  under  constant 
fire  for  months,  during  the  siege  operations,  was  Lieut.  Peter  S. 
Michie,  late  Professor  of  Philosophy  at  the  Military  Academy. 


SIEGE  OF  CHARLESTON  125 

group  of  so-called  "  Swamp  Angels,"  used  in  the  bat- 
teries before  Forts  Wagner  and  Sumter  in  the  siege  of 
Charleston,  1863-1864.  The  muzzle  of  this  gun  is 
shown  to  have  been  carried  away  with  an  irregular 
fracture  by  the  premature  explosion  of  a  shell. 

This  irregularity  so  deflected  the  projectile  that  it 
became  necessary  to  chip  it  off  to  an  even  bearing  for 
the  projectile  as  it  left  the  bore. 

To  accomplish  this  it  was  necessary  to  call  for  a  volun- 
teer mechanic  who  would  be  willing  to  sit  astride  of  the 
gun  to  do  this  work,  within  easy  range  of  the  enemy's 
batteries,  and  to  operate  under  a  constant  fire  of  artil- 
lery and  sharpshooters  both  night  and  day. 

Some  months  after  this  the  writer  had  occasion  to 
again  employ  the  same  man,  "  Old  Stray,"  for  service 
at  the  ordnance  depot  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
He  was  asked  (in  view  of  his  being  a  German  with  but 
few  months'  residence  in  this  country),  "  What  motive 
prompted  him  to  this  deed  of  valor  —  certainly  ;  not 
patriotism?"  He  replied  in  broken  English  and  in  his 
native  accent; — "  My  hatred  of  slavery!  " 


CHAPTER  VIII 

OFFICERS  IN  QUEST  OF  SPORT  ON  THE 
SKIRMISH  LINE 

THE  scene  has  shifted.  Headquarters  of  the  de- 
partment for  the  winter  months  has  been  trans- 
ferred to  Hilton  Head  Island,  Port  Royal 
Harbor.  Active  operations  have  been  suspended  on 
Morris  Island,  and  the  Army  has  gone  into  winter 
quarters. 

When  opportunity  offered,  many  of  the  officers  would 
run  up  by  boat  to  the  First  Artillery  camp,  at  Beaufort, 
and  were  always  met  at  the  wharf  by  Langdon,  captain 
of  Battery  "  M  "  of  that  regiment. 

The  coach  which  carried  the  visitors  in  state  to  the 
battery  camp  had  been  picked  up  by  Langdon  in  the 
stable  of  an  abandoned  mansion  of  this  charming  old 
Southern  town,  and  to  match  his  colors  its  running 
gear  had  been  painted  red  —  in  fact  the  best  endeavor 
of  all  visitors  to  the  artillery  headquarters  was  to  assist 
the  captain  and  his  officers  to  so  paint  the  entire  town. 

In  search  of  adventure,  Langdon  had  learned  that  an 
"  agent  "  had  two  or  three  carriages  stored  away  in  a 
neighboring  stable.  "  The  idea  that  a  Gideonite  should 
have  a  carriage  lying  idle,  absolutely  going  to  decay, 
while  the  poor  First  Artillery  could  ride  only  on  horses, 
struck  him  as  supremely  ridiculous." 

"  A  council  of  war  was  held  at  headquarters,  with  the 

126 


If! 


> 


ON  THE  SKIRMISH   LINE  127 

result  that  an  order  from  competent  authority  was  ob- 
tained for  a  carriage  from  that  particular  stable/' 

The  best  one  was  selected,  conditioned  upon  its  being 
fully  repaired  and  painted. 

And  painted  it  was!  (Here  let  us  quote  Captain  Lang- 
don,  as  he  writes,  but  not  literally.)*  Hidden  in  a  hos- 
pital tent  for  a  few  days  from  prying  eyes,  it  emerged 
one  sunny  morning,  the  wheels,  pole,  and  other  parts 
of  the  running  gear  a  fiery  red,  while  the  body  was  a 
sickly  green,  the  whole  glistening  with  a  thick  coat  of 
varnish.  The  horses  were  hitched  in,  driver  mounted 
on  the  box,  and  the  four  ranking  officers  drew  near  to 
enter  and  take  the  first  ride  to  town. 

"  Employed  by  the  officers'  mess,  as  valets,  were  two 
young  colored  gentlemen  about  eighteen  years  of  age, 
named  '  London '  and  '  Jeff/  The  former  was  of 
rather  a  sombre  temperament;  but  Jeff  was  cheerful 
and  spry,  and  graceful  withal  as  a  monkey.  Behind  the 
carriage  was  a  small  platform,  which  had  suggested  the 
propriety  of  having  a  footman  to  give  tone  to  the  equi- 
page. For  over  a  week  Jeff  had  been  secretly  drilled 
and  equipped  for  this  conspicuous  position.  A  close- 
fitting  swallow-tailed  coat  of  brilliant  scarlet  was  set 
off  with  gilt  buttons  and  velvet  trimmings.  A  pair  of 
sky-blue  government  breeches  encased  his  legs  to  just 
below  the  knee,  where  they  ended  under  the  clasp  of 
plated  knee  buckles,  the  rest  of  the  legs  being  clad  in 
•coarse,  gray  woolen  stockings.  A  white  "  plug  "  hat, 

*  As  he  writes  of  Beaufort,  S.  C.,  in  Haskin's  History  of  the 
First  Artillery. 


128  WEST   POINT 

with  fashionable  half-mourning  to  establish  a  claim  to 
respectability,  surmounted  his  black  face,  and  he  wore 
the  conventional  Berlin  gloves." 

"  Jeff  had  an  unpleasant  way  of  never  being  able  to 
stand  with  his  knees  and  heels  touching  at  the  same 
time,  and  when  embarrassed,  rather  gave  the  preference 
to  the  knees.  But  as  a  footman  he  was  on  the  whole  a 
success." 

"  The  coach  of  the  First  Artillery  was  seen  nearly  every 
day,  after  drill  hours,  going  about  to  all  parts  of  the 
island,  and  rapidly  became  a  popular  institution.  The 
volunteers  laughed  and  the  Gideonites,  as  we  denomi- 
nated the  teachers,  ground  their  teeth,  but  they  all 
talked  and  carried  the  story  of  the  drag  even  to  the 
sandy  trenches  of  Fort  Wagner." 

"  On  an  occasion  when  a  distinguished  general  officer 
was  to  visit  the  battery  camp  Jeff  and  the  drag  went 
down  to  meet  him,  and  to  give  additional  eclat  to  the 
occasion,  a  bugler  in  his  scarlet  striped  jacket  was 
mounted  beside  the  driver." 

Langdon  related  a  very  amusing  episode  which  had 
transpired  the  day  before  our  arrival: 

"  The  Eighth  Maine  was  camped  right  across  the  road 
from  the  battery.  Only  half  a  dozen  yards  divided  the 
camps.  That  regiment  had  in  their  camp-ground  a 
fine,  tall  flagstaff.  But  like  the  carriage,  in  its  original 
condition  it  sadly  needed  painting.  There  was  no  flag- 
staff in  the  battery  grounds,  and  that  the  American 
colors  should  float  over  a  volunteer  regiment  and  not 
over  the  First  Artillery  was  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  of  the 


ON  THE  SKIRMISH   LINE  129 

First  Artillery.  It  was  determined  in  council  not  only 
to  secure  a  flagstaff,  but  to  get  that  particular  one.  The 
Eighth  Maine  was  at  that  time  a  kind  of  '  Happy 
Family.'  Scarcely  a  week  passed  without  some  poor 
devil  getting  in  arrest,  and  at  last  the  colonel  himself 
was  reported  arrested.  This  was  the  moment  chosen 
by  the  emissaries  for  fraternizing  with  the  party  out  of 
favor  with  the  colonel.  The  disaffected  were  made 
warm  friends  and  lent  themselves  to  the  project." 

How  it  was  done  Captain  Langdon  did  not  know,  but 
at  sundown  the  previous  evening  the  weather-beaten 
flagstaff  was  standing  in  the  Eighth  Maine  camp;  and 
the  morning  of  this  recital  it  was  gone,  and  in  the  bat- 
tery camp  stood  one  strangely  like  it,  but  freshly  painted 
and  flying  a  brand  new  garrison  flag.  There  gathered 
"  that  afternoon  a  gay  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  to 
celebrate  the  flag-raising  in  the  First  Artillery  camp." 

After  supper  there  was  a  grand  jollification  in  which 
all  joined  in  the  "cake  walk;"  plantation  ditties  with 
the  darkies,  and  they  in  turn  helped  us  out  in  chorus  to 
"Benny  Havens,  Oh!" 

"  To  our  kind  old  Alma  Mater,  our  rock-bound  Highland  home, 
We'll  cast  back  many  a  fond  regret,  as  o'er  life's  sea  we  roam; 
Until  on  our  last  battle-field  the  light  of  Heaven  shall  glow, 
We'll  never  fail  to  drink  to  her  and  Benny  Havens,  Oh!  Oh!  Benny 
Havens,  Oh!  etc." 

It  were  a  long  story  to  tell,  of  the  good  times  at  the 
camp  of  Battery  M,  First  United  States  Artillery,  lo- 
cated in  the  very  heart  of  Beaufort  town.    As  the  winter 
9 


130  WEST  POINT 

months  approached  and  hostilities  had  been  suspended 
on  Morris  Island,  it  seemed  by  no  means  a  bad  plan  for 
the  officers  to  organize  for  a  deer  hunt.  The  islands 
along  the  coast,  the  Sea  Islands,  were  known  to  abound 
in  deer  and  small  game,  and  prior  to  the  war  were  used 
as  hunting  preserves  by  the  planters  and  their  sons.  No 
sport  of  that  kind  had  been  indulged  in  by  them  for 
several  years,  as  "  they  were  out  for  other  game." 

There  was  promise  here  for  relaxation  and  enjoy- 
ment after  an  arduous  summer  campaign.  Morris 
Island,  with  its  forts,  Wagner  and  Gregg,  was  in  our 
possession,  and  Sumter  reduced  to  a  mass  of  ruins,  un- 
recognizable as  a  fort,  but  revetted  as  it  were  with  iron 
on  its  land  side  —  iron  projectiles. 

As  headquarters  had  retired  to  Port  Royal  Harbor  for 
the  winter  the  time  seemed  propitious  for  the  long- 
talked-of  hunt. 

A  week  off  duty  meant  that  a  number  of  the  commis- 
sioned officers  of  the  Union  Army  would  start  from  Hil- 
ton Head  in  a  steam  tug,  and  cross  over  Port  Royal 
Harbor  to  find  a  footing  on  the  Sea  or  Hunting  Islands 
lying  in  a  belt  along  the  outer  coast. 

It  was  arranged  that  we  should  land  at  a  certain 
deserted  plantation,  where  the  negroes  held  possession, 
and  there  be  joined  by  the  negro  hunters  with  their 
hounds. 

Since  there  was  little,  if  any,  hunting  on  these  pre- 
serves during  the  war  it  was  expected  that  the  game 
would  be  plentiful. 


ON  THE  SKIRMISH   LINE  131 

The  old  darkies  on  the  plantation  where  we  landed 
viewed  our  coming  much  as  did  the  aborigines  of  the 
Continent  the  landing  of  Christopher  Columbus,  and 
we  were  heartily  welcomed  by  these  simple  souls.  A 
supper  had  been  prepared  in  advance  of  our  antici- 
pated arrival,  consisting  of  venison,  waffles,  Maryland 
biscuit,  and  other  good  things  in  the  preparation  of 
which  the  negro  cook  excels.  Here,  occupied  by  a  large 
family,  was  a  cabin,  consisting  of  but  one  room,  as  all, 
including  pickaninnies,  sleep  on  straw.  The  fire  blazed 
high,  as  only  the  "  light  wood  "  fire  of  the  Carolinas 
can. 

There  were  not  less  than  fifty  spectators  at  the  royal 
feast,  and  these  enjoyed  the  entertainment  quite  as  much 
as  did  the  visitors  their  good  supper,  and  the  novelty 
of  the  situation. 

A  few  hours  later  we  were  winding  our  way  by 
devious  route  through  the  creeks  of  the  swamp,  in  a 
large  plantation  boat  supplied  with  ten  or  a  dozen 
double  sets  of  row-locks,  a  darky  for  each  pair. 

In  the  bow  of  the  boat  an  equal  number  of  hounds 
were  crouched  and  in  the  "  stern  sheets  "  muffled  in 
blankets  and  capes,  the  officers  were  lulled  to  sleep  by 
the  darkies'  old  plantation  melodies,  keeping  time  to 
the  stroke  of  the  oar. 

Phosphorescence  glided  off  in  silvery  masses  from  the 
oar  blade,  and  by  the  light  of  a  full  moon  the  weird  scene 
required  but  slight  stretch  of  imagination  to  suggest 
thoughts  of  voyaging  in  some  other  world. 

On  arriving  at  our  destination,  after  midnight,  we 


132  WEST  POINT 

set  about  preparing  a  temporary  resting-place  for  the 
few  remaining  hours  of  the  night.  Then  it  was  that  the 
light  wood  blazing  up  shed  its  warm  and  glowing  light 
upon  the  rich  verdure  of  the  tide-water  swamp,  where 
grow  the  cypress,  live  oak,  loblolly  pine,  tupelo,  and 
magnolia  festooned  all  with  Spanish  moss.  After  a  few 
hours'  rest  we  were  up  and  off  at  early  dawn  to  start  the 
hounds,  and  Uncle  Daniel,  our  chief  guide,  placed  us 
at  the  stands.  Here  we  were  surrounded  on  all  sides  by 
evergreen  masses  of  canebrake,  sweet  myrtle,  and  the 
bay  bedecked  with  yellow  jessamine.  Where  else,  if 
not  here,  should  we  find  the  home  of  the  deer  and  other 
wild  creatures  of  the  forest? 

The  deer  are  numerous  on  the  islands  of  the  Caro- 
linas,  and  the  Virginia  deer,  like  other  nocturnal  ani- 
mals, are  rarely  seen  in  the  daytime  unless  disturbed,  or 
in  threatening  weather,  and  always  walk  at  night. 

They  browse  on  the  buds  and  evergreen  shrubs  of 
the  native  swamps,  and  at  times  do  not  disdain  to  visit 
the  cultivated  field,  if  any  be  at  hand.  At  sunrise  the 
deer  selects  a  spot  for  its  daily  nap  —  one  well  sheltered 
if  the  day  is  cold,  or  shaded  if  the  day  is  warm.  The 
habits  of  this  deer  give  the  cue  to  those  who  hunt  it; 
and  since,  in  its  nocturnal  wanderings  in  search  of  food, 
it  leaves  its  scent  about  the  bushes  and  the  grass  for 
hours  after,  a  "  cold  trail  dog  "  will  take  this  scent  and 
follow  till  he  finds  the  animal  asleep. 

One  such  hound  will  lead  a  pack,  the  other  dogs  well 
understanding  the  meaning  of  his  occasional  yelp,  and 
hunting  of  this  kind  develops  woodcraft  and  a  habit 


ON  THE  SKIRMISH   LINE  133 

of  "  o'bobsovervation  "  (as  "  Uncle  Tom  "  would  say) 
little  short  of  marvelous  in  those  of  African  descent, 
whose  forefathers  were  imported  two  centuries  ago. 

There  was  one  of  this  type  with  our  party,  one  who 
smiled  at  the  other  darkies,  and  this  cynical  old  fellow, 
Uncle  Daniel,  was  of  course  our  guide. 

In  his  veins  there  ran  a  taint  of  the  Seminole,  mixed 
with  the  native  African  blood,  and  often  did  he  astonish 
us  throughout  the  hunt  by  his  unerring  judgment  in 
pursuit  of  the  game. 

Like  the  dog  of  the  "  cold  trail,"  so  it  was  with  Uncle 
Daniel,  and  we  soon  learned  that  from  the  voices  of 
the  dogs  he  could  tell  at  once  just  where  the  deer  would 
run;  indeed  the  old  man  seemed  to  be  gifted  with  the 
voice  of  the  prophet. 

His  predictions  never  failed,  and  so  certainly  were 
they  realized  that  there  was  no  suggestion  even  of 
chance  or  coincidence. 

When  on  the  "  stand,"  his  vision  was  like  that  of  the 
hawk,  and  no  motion  missed  his  keen  eye;  his  ear  noted 
and  recognized  sounds  that  made  not  the  slightest  im- 
pression on  others,  and  his  hunter  logic  excelled  that 
of  the  mathematician. 

A  fact  well  understood  about  the  Virginia  deer  is 
that,  when  roused  in  the  day  and  chased  by  the  dogs, 
they  leave  the  woods  by  regular  paths.  These  paths 
in  the  Adirondacks  are  known  as  "  deer  runs."  The 
hunters  take  "  stands  "  at  intervals,  and  usually  some 
one  or  other  of  the  party  gets  a  shot;  not  always  how- 
ever with  the  certainty  of  killing,  though  he  may  hit 


134  WEST  POINT 

the  animal.  When  on  this  hunt,  we  found  ourselves 
at  times  sitting  out  all  day  long  without  other  com- 
panions than  the  birds  and  minor  beasts,  listening  for 
the  yelp  of  the  hounds,  but  for  long  hours  hearing 
nought  save  the  chatter  of  the  squirrel,  the  scream  of 
the  hawk,  the  pecking  of  the  woodpecker,  and  other 
sounds  of  the  virgin  forest ;  to  be  suddenly  awakened  by 
the  deep  note  of  a  hound,  followed  in  a  few  moments  by 
a  burst  of  music  from  the  whole  pack  in  full  cry. 

Now  is  your  wish  to  be  realized !     On  they  come  — 
nearer  and  nearer  —  while  you  scarcely  move  or  breathe ; 
one  slightest  motion  and  your  chance  for  a  shot  has 
gone. 

Ah!  here  he  comes,  with  horns  thrown  back  and 
head  and  shoulders  set  as  the  race  horse  at  the  winning 
post;  out  from  the  thicket  with  the  speed  of  the  light- 
ning express  he  bolts. 

Now,  keep  dead  still;  the  animal's  mind  is  on  the 
dogs;  he  is  coming  straight  at  you;  but,  as  you  step 
forward  to  take  aim,  he  sees  the  movement  and  swerves 
so  quickly  to  the  left  that  your  shot  has  missed,  and 
he  is  out  of  range  before  you  can  recover. 

At  times  we  wait  in  vain,  and  the  voices  of  the  dogs, 
at  first  so  near,  gradually  die  away,  and  with  them  go 
our  hopes;  then,  when  really  discouraged  and  ready  to 
give  up,  suddenly  the  note  is  heard  again  and  turned 
our  way,  when  back  to  the  stand  we  run,  pulses  bound- 
ing and  nerves  strained  to  the  utmost  tension.  We 
hear  the  crackle  of  the  cane  with  eye  glued  to  the  spot, 
and  what  do  we  see?  Not  a  single  deer,  but  a  buck 


ON  THE  SKIRMISH   LINE  135 

and  a  doe,  bounding  as  if  to  show  their  powers  and 
defying  a  ten-rail  fence. 

Oh,  such  a  sight!  They  think  not  of  us,  and  every 
leap  brings  them  nearer  and  nearer.  Such  specimens 
of  their  kind,  and  now  we  have  time  to  study  them; 
they  are  "  playing  before  the  dogs,"  and  thinking  of 
nothing  else.  Already  we  are  measuring  those  horns, 
and  thinking  how  they  will  look  upon  our  wall  as  we 
sight  along  the  barrel  of  the  gun.  Fire!  down  goes 
the  buck,  but  up  again  and  off  before  we  can  think  to 
fire  the  second  barrel,  so  sure  are  we  that  the  first  has 
killed.  In  despair  the  second  barrel  is  fired,  when  it 
seems  as  if  there  could  be  no  hope;  but  to  our  amaze- 
ment the  buck  has  gone  down;  our  first  shot  was  not 
so  bad  after  all,  and  when  we  reach  the  spot,  there,  at 
our  feet,  is  one  of  the  finest  bucks  we  had  ever  the  good 
fortune  to  see. 

Having  had  but  little  sleep  the  night  before,  and  be- 
ing assured  by  Uncle  Daniel  that  the  hounds  and  deer 
were  off  and  away,  it  was  useless  to  continue  the 
hunt  that  day;  and  it  was  concluded  to  pitch  the 
tent  that  we  had  brought  along  with  us  and  one  or  two 
of  the  large  paulins  for  shelter  tents,  and  to  get  our- 
selves in  comfortable  shape  for  the  week's  hunt  on  this 
and  the  neighboring  islands.  In  other  words,  to  estab- 
lish a  temporary  camp  for  headquarters. 

We  had  brought  a  steward  (an  Englishman),  with 
us  from  a  vessel  of  the  blockading  squadron.  And  while 
assured  that  he  was  a  first-class  cook  and  a  good  pro- 
vider, we  were  told  that  we  must  look  out  for  him,  as 


136  WEST   POINT 

"  he  could  smell  a  jug  of  rum  forty  miles  below  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth."  Now,  the  principal  difference  be- 
tween Sullivan  and  the  rest  of  the  party  was  this,  that, 
whereas  we  took  our  rum  on  the  installment  plan,  he 
was  very  apt  to  lay  in  a  wholesale  supply,  following  the 
custom  of  the  Indian  messenger,  who  if  given  a 
week's  supply  of  food  sits  down  and  eats  it  all  at  once, 
draws  a  strap  tight  around  his  waist  to  stop  digestion, 
and  then  starts  upon  his  trip  at  the  dog-trot.  This 
works  fairly  well  for  eatables,  but  for  drinkables  the 
practice  finds  a  failing  case. 

The  warning  given  us  invited  a  council  of  war  to 
determine  how  or  where  we  should  locate  our  com- 
missariat, and  how,  having  located  it,  we  were  to  main- 
tain our  line  of  communication  without  discovery. 

All  were  up  bright  and  early  the  following  morning, 
and  at  selected  "stands"  in  the  woods.  The  hounds 
on  the  previous  day  had  "  rattled  "  most  of  the  deer 
and  the  herds  were  scattered.  In  fact  the  deer  ap- 
peared to  be  running  wild,  the  hounds  first  on  one  trail 
and  then  on  another. 

An  incident  of  this  day's  hunt  quite  impressed  the 
writer.  He  seemed  to  be  surrounded  by  the  hounds  — 
right  in  their  very  midst  —  and  was  sure  that  the  deer 
might  show  himself  at  any  moment.  On  the  instant 
in  rushed  one  of  the  darkies,  calling  out:  "Stand- 
ing thar!  standing  thar,  Lieutenant!"  "Where?" 
"Standing  thar!  standing  thar!"  Great  Heavens!  we 


ON  THE  SKIRMISH   LINE  137 

thought,  the  deer  is  standing  still  and  we  can't  see  him, 
and  surely  he'll  not  stand  there  long  in  this  cyclone. 
On  rushed  the  darky,  still  shouting,  "  Standing  thar! 
standing  thar,  Lieutenant! " 

Here  we  were  with  a  deer  standing  still  to  be  shot 
at  and  to  lose  our  chance  from  being  blind;  the  deer 
would  surely  escape  before  we  could  get  a  shot  at  it^ 
The  cracks  of  rifles  were  heard  all  around  and  about, 
and  it  was  certain  that  several  deer  were  being  killed 
by  the  party.  In  fact,  that  evening  three  deer  were 
brought  into  camp  —  a  buck  and  two  does. 

When  the  writer  got  hold  of  the  darky  who  had  come 
upon  him  during  the  hunt,  he  asked  him,  "  Where  in 
God's  world  was  that  deer  standing  when  you  shouted?  " 
He  replied,  "  Thar  warnt  no  deah  standin';  de  deah  was 
runnin'."  "  Why  did  you  tell  me  he  was  standing?  " 
"  I  tole  you,  Lieutenant,  '  To  stan'  thar  yo'self,  an'  keep 
on  dat  stan';  de  deah  was  acomin'  right  fur  you!  " 

There  was  considerable  contention  that  night  as 
we  sat  around  our  board  at  supper  (the  board  being 
a  canvas  laid  out  on  the  ground)  as  to  who  shot  the 
buck.  Three  claimed  to  have  brought  him  down.  Two 
rifle  bullets  were  certainly  found  in  the  deer's  body, 
bullets  not  from  the  same  rifle. 

To  stop  the  altercation,  one  of  the  party  said  he  was 
reminded  of  a  story  of  an  old  darky  who  was  working 
a  stone  quarry  down  in  Virginny  "  befo'  de  war." 
"  Uncle  Robert,  how  are  we  getting  on?  "  said  the 
young  master,  as  he  rode  up:  "  Dar  you  go  agin,  Marse 
Ned:  'How  is  we  gittin  on?'  You  remins  me  of  a 


138  WEST  POINT 

passel  of  coons  dat  went  out  huntin'  in  Sou'  Car'liny. 
'  Long  Sam  '  wen'  'long  wid  dem,  an'  dey  'ranged  dem- 
selves  'round  de  swamp,  an'  put  in  de  dogs,  when  putty 
soon  sumthin'  moved.  Long  Sam  ups  wid  his  rifle  an' 
down  draps  sumthin'. 

"Den  dey  all  shouted,  'Ain'  we  lucky;  dun  got  one 
already.' 

"  Long  Sam  sez,  '  No  we  'bout  dis,  pleas;  I  dun  shot 
dat  deah.' 

"  An'  when  dey  got  up  to  what  dey  s'posed  was  de 
deah,  lo!  and  behol'!  dar  was  Marse  Richard's  pet  colt, 
what  he  got  out  of  dat  mar'  he  brought  down  from 
Richmon'  last  yeah.  An'  Long  Sam  sez,  '  Boys,  ain' 
we  jes  played  hell?'  'No  we  'bout  dis,'  sez  de  boys, 
'  you  dun  shot  dat  colt.'  Now,  Marse  Ned,  Tze  wurkin' 
dis  'ere  stun  quarry,  an'  we' 2  only  gittin'  on  middlin' ! " 

It  was  far  into  the  shades  of  night  before  it  could  be 
finally  determined  which  one  of  the  we's  was  to  have 
the  deer.  A  similar  animated  dispute  was  going  on 
at  the  darkies  camp  fire,  and  so  we  wandered  over 
to  get  a  share  of  their  fun :  "  Dar  you  go  —  dar  you 
go  agin  wid  you'  lies,  you  brack  nigga,  you;  tell  me 
dat  any  deah  gwine  to  cum  up  to  you  an'  let  you  ketch 
him  by  de  leg;  go  home;  don'  cum  talkin'  like  dat  to 
me."  "  What's  the  matter?  "  we  said.  "  Why,"  says 
the  speaker,  "  he's  dat  nigga  tellin'  'bout  a  doe  an'  a 
yea'lin'  cummin'  right  up  to  him  and  he  stan'in'  still 
widout  breadin'  an'  de  deah  takin'  him  for  a  stump  ob 
a  tree.  Den  he  kotch  de  yea'lin'  by  de  leg  an'  dis  yea'lin' 
drag  dis  lyin'  nigga  a  haf  mile." 


ON  THE  SKIRMISH   LINE  139 

"  Dars  dat  oder  nigga;  dars  mo'  truff  in  his  story. 

"He  sez  dat  a  doe  got  up  an'  jes'  kin'  ob  walked 
'way  lookin'  at  him,  an'  he  didn'  shoot  kase  he  was 
sartin'  shur'  dat  dar  was  a  '  buck  '  'roun'  dar  sumwhars. 
'  Putty  soon  one  start  up,'  so  this  nigga  sez,  an'  he 
didn'  see  nuthin'  but  a  streak  of  light  and  he  fired  in 
de  air  and  sumthin'  stopped  an"  turned  ober,  jes'  like 
the  water-wheel  down  at  de  mill;  den  he  saw  it  was  a 
'  buck.'  He  killed  dat  '  buck,'  dis  nigga  sez,  but  he 
got  'way  from  him  kase  de  dogs  wouldn'  go  in  arter 
him,  and  Uncle  Daniel  sez  dat's  a  fac',  dat  de  dogs 
won'  take  you  to  de  deah  when  de  deah  is  dead.  All 
de  same.  Lieutenant,  I  b'lieb  dis  nigga's  lyin',  an'  he 
neber  killed  de  '  buck,'  he  say  he  did." 

Here  is  another  little  matter  which  must  not  be  over- 
looked. 

Sullivan  had  been  left  during  the  hours  of  the  hunt 
all  alone  in  camp,  and  was  the  only  one  "  at  home  to 
visitors." 

A  Virginia  deer,  tempted  to  a  dangerous  precinct  by 
the  demon  curiosity,  walked  in  upon  Sullivan.  Sulli- 
van, "  get  your  gun,"  was  the  first  thought  suggested, 
but  he  later  acknowledged  to  a  bad  case  of  "  buck 
ague."  He  seized  a  double-barrel  shotgun  in  the  ec- 
stasy of  the  moment  and  gave  the  visitor  a  parting 
salute  and  a  good  sprinkle  of  bird  shot.  In  his  en- 
deavor to  overtake  the  deer  he  ran  upon  a  flock  of 
ducks,  all  of  which  took  to  the  wing,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  solitary  diver,  "  whereby  hangs  a  tale."  As 
the  diver  very  imprudently  left  the  water  and  took  to 


140  WEST  POINT 

flight,  Sullivan  winged  him  just  at  the  instant  that  a 
valuable  bird  dog  belonging  to  one  of  the  party  came 
upon  the  scene. 

Attracted  by  the  report  of  the  gun,  and  seeing  the 
wounded  diver,  the  dog  plunged  in  after  it,  and,  to  the 
dismay  of  Sullivan,  started  out  to  sea  with  the  bird 
well  in  the  lead.  Sullivan  watched  the  chase  until  the 
diver  was  out  of  sight,  but  the  dog  kept  on ;  it  appearing 
to  Sullivan,  a  mile  or  so  away,  still  following  the  bird, 
until  both  were  entirely  lost  to  view. 

Sullivan  was  much  demoralized  at  the  possible  loss 
of  this  valuable  dog  which  had  been  left  in  his  charge; 
but  some  hours  later,  the  animal  returning,  laid  at  his 
feet  what  was  left  of  the  diver.  He  thought  he  would 
put  it  out  of  misery  by  wringing  its  neck,  but  in  at- 
temping  to  do  so  found  it  hard  and  tough  as  rubber, 
so  that  this  feat,  not  being  accomplished,  the  bird  was 
thrown  aside  to  let  nature  take  its  course.  Later  on  it 
was  found  to  have  quite  revived;  after  this  its  leg  was 
fastened  by  a  string  to  a  tree  and  the  diver  was  held  in 
captivity  by  Sullivan  until  his  return  to  his  vessel  in  the 
blockading  squadron. 

Sometime  after  the  diver  was  dubbed  "  Hanks." 
—  "  Hanks,"  the  mascot  —  and  soon  became  quite  a 
favorite  with  the  sailors.  With  his  wings  well  clipped 
and  "  given  a  little  rope  "  in  the  water,  "  Hanks  "  re- 
mained alongside  the  ship  in  the  day  and  came  aboard 
at  night.  After  awhile  he  became  so  attached  to  the 
vessel  and  its  crew  that  without  the  rope  combination 
he  followed  her  around  as  she  cruised  from  port  to  port, 


ON  THE  SKIRMISH   LINE  141 

and  came  aboard  at  the  meal  hour  bugle  call  and  at 
"  taps."  For  years  after  the  war  and  the  deer  hunt 
Sullivan  and  "  Hanks  "  were  inseparable  companions. 

Any  one  can  see  that  this  is  a  wild  duck  story,  and 
therefore  of  necessity  must  be  a  little  fishy* 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  Sullivan  as  a  hunter,  his 
accomplishments  in  the  culinary  department  had  a  most 
important  bearing,  as  we  shall  see.  Several  deer  were 
wounded  on  the  third  day  and  two  more  were  brought 
in,  making  six  in  all,  if  we  include  those  shot  on  the 
previous  days.  A  fine  chance  offered  this  day  and 
we  brought  down  a  doe,  but  only  after  experiencing1 
a  bad  attack  of  ""buck  ague."  Placed  by  Uncle  Daniel 
at  what  was  known  to  be  the  best  stand  on  the  island, 
it  was  not  long  after  the  hounds  were  put  in  the  woods 
that  their  baying  grew  more  and  more  distinct  and 
satisfied  us  that  the  deer  would  soon  make  its  appear- 
ance. There  flitted  across  the  swamp,  from  the  line  of 
woods  to  a  clump  of  trees  in  the  middle  of:  the  swamp, 
something  akin  to  birds  or  swallows,  rising  and  falling 
in  their  flight  as  they  follow  one  another,  but  so  close 
was  this  to  the  swamp  grass  as  to  be  very  suspicious. 
Here  the  writer  ran  forward  with  gun  at  full  cock, 
in  a  state  of  excitement,  believing  this  might  be  a  deer, 
leaping  as  he  ran.  Scarcely  had  he  reached  a  position 
some  three  hundred  yards  in  advance  of  the  stand  be- 
fore a  large  buck  passed  over  the  very  spot  which  had 

*  We  have  in  this  instance  to  acknowledge  valuable  assistance 
from  John  Paine,  Esq.,  who  is  well  acquainted  with  our  friend 
Kanks.  Contemporaries,  no  doubt. 


142  WEST  POINT 

been  abandoned,  and  got  away  without  a  shot  being- 
fired.  At  the  same  instant,  from  out  of  the  clump  of 
trees  in  the  swamp,  a  doe  bounded  foward,  head  on,  and 
received  an  entire  charge  of  buckshot  in  her  breast.  The 
doe  fell  forward,  turned  a  somersault,  but,  picking  her- 
self up,  started  away  at  high  speed.  The  second  barrel 
was  fired,  but,  as  the  sequel  showed,  without  effect. 
After  this  the  chase  began.  On  came  the  dogs  in  full 
cry,  following  up  the  deer  for  quite  a  distance  until  she 
turned  at  bay.  Here  a  valuable  gun  stock  was  smashed 
into  smithers  (a  borrowed  gun),  and  someone  had  to  pay 
heavily  for  this  day's  fun.  Before  returning  to  camp  a 
drizzling,  chilly  rain  set  in  late  in  the  afternoon  and 
soaked  us  all  to  the  skin. 

Ah !  well,  there  was  the  comfort  of  a  good  hot  supper 
in  store,  but  on  approaching  the  camp  Sullivan's  tent 
flaps  were  closed  and  tied  up  hard  and  fast.  This  was 
quite  significant,  and  it  soon  became  clear  that  the  camp 
commissariat  had  been  discovered.  There  had  been 
originally  a  good  supper  prepared,  but  it  was  now  spread 
over  the  floor  of  Sullivan's  tent  —  a  chicken  or  two,  sev- 
eral omelets,  a  hunk  of  butter,  and  other  delicacies,  all 
of  which  might  have  contributed  to  the  inner  comforts 
of  a  wet  and  mud-bedraggled  party : —  a  bad  "  spread  " 
indeed  was  this  and  on  the  ground  floor  of  Sullivan's 
tent.  Making  the  best  we  could  of  the  unfortunate  busi- 
ness, we  shook  up  Sullivan,  who,  on  recovering  himself, 
somewhat,  set  to  work,  with  the  assistance  of  the  darkies, 
to  prepare  a  second  edition  of  his  work. 

That  evening,  while  we  were  indulging  in  a  game  of 


ON  THE  SKIRMISH   LINE  143 

cards,  Sullivan,  the  more  fully  to  reassure  us  as  to  his 
sobered  condition,  requested  "  the  gentlemen,  before  re- 
tiring to  be  kind  enough  to  turn  down  the  candle." 

We  had  other  game  on  the  islands — squirrels,  rabbits, 
ducks  and  curlew  —  and  were  arranging  for  a  hunt  of 
this  kind  when  one  of  the  darkies  suddenly  rushed  into 
our  tent  and  said  that  he  was  sure  that  some  of  the  gen- 
tlemen from  Charleston  were  near  at  hand,  that  he  had 
seen  their  camp-fires,  and  there  were  at  least  a  dozen  in 
the  party.  This  was  very  suggestive  of  Andersonville 
Prison.  One  thing  was  quite  certain,  and  that  was  that  our 
hunt  must  abruptly  end,  as  the  presence  of  white  men 
on  the  islands  would  certainly  have  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  late  arrivals.  It  was  suggested  however  that 
the  darkies  of  the  party  should  continue  the  hunt  with 
the  hounds  and  keep  in  touch  with  the  officers  only  so 
far  as  practicable,  and  that  the  officers  should  make  a 
detour  and  get  off  on  their  own  hook  as  best  they 
might,  the  darkies  joining  them  if  possible  at  the  boat 
landing.  The  retreat  was  in  this  way  successfully  ef- 
fected, and  in  the  course  of  twenty-four  hours  we  were 
all  safely  landed  at  the  plantation  where  the  tugboat 
was  in  waiting  to  carry  the  party  back  to  Port  Royal 
Harbor. 


CHAPTER  IX 

4 

THE    FINAL     CAMPAIGN    OF    THE   CIVIL 

WAR 

ABOUT  the  time  of  the  transfer  of  the  Tenth  Army 
Corps  from  the  Department  of  the  South  to  the 
Army  of  the  James,  the  principal  supply  depot 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  established  at  City 
Point,  Virginia. 

In  a  previous  chapter  brief  reference  has  been  made 
to  McClellan's  plan  of  campaign,  followed  by  operations 
against  Richmond,  with  base  of  supply  first  at  White 
House  on  the  York  River,  and  later  with  base  at  Har- 
rison's Landing,  James  River. 

The  plan  of  overland  march  was  not  at  that  time 
adopted  for  reasons  already  given,  and  foreign  military 
critics  agree  that  McClellan's  course  was  by  far  the 
best  that  he  could  then  have  pursued. 

His  change  of  front  and  change  of  base  from  White 
House  to  the  James  was  a  masterly  stroke,  resulting, 
as  it  did,  in  well  establishing  his  Army  and  terminating 
the  seven  days'  contests  in  final  victory  at  Malvern 
Hill.*  When  Lieut.-Gen.  U.  S.  Grant  assumed  com- 
mand of  the  eastern  armies  and  took  the  field  in  person 
with  Meade  as  his  lieutenant,  the  force  with  which  he 
had  to  cope  consisted  of  some  sixty-seven  thousand 

*  See  foot  note,  pages  161  and  162,  giving  details  of  this  battle. 
In  this  same  connection,  see  also  note  reference  on  page  112. 

144 


FINAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  CIVIL  WAR      145 

well-conditioned  veteran  soldiers  and  two  hundred  and 
twenty-four  guns  under  the  command  of  Robert  E.  Lee. 
Grant's  main  object  was  to  capture  Lee's  Army,  and 
incidentally  the  Capital  of  the  Confederacy.  With  a 
total  force  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  thousand 
men  and  three  hundred  and  sixteen  guns*  he  determined 
to  march  directly  against  his  adversary,  and  as  the 

\ 

sequel  showed,  he  arrived  at  or  near  the  same  point  that 
McClellan  had  finally  established  as  his  base,  and  City 
Point,  Va.,  became  General  Grant's  base  of  supplies 
and  the  James  River  his  line  of  communications. 

The  combined  operations  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac and  the  Army  of  the  James,  striking  the  enemy 
simultaneously  front  and  rear,  greatly  facilitated  the 
advance  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  by  the  overland 
route.  And  yet  even  while  so  operating,  Grant's  losses 
were  enormous.  In  the  two  months  during  which  the 
battles  of  the  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  North  Anna, 
Drury's  Bluff,  Totopotomoy,  Cold  Harbor,  and  the 
Battle  of  the  Mine  at  Petersburg  were  fought,  his  losses 
aggregated  in  killed  and  wounded  alone  some  fifty 
thousand  men,  whilst  the  exhausting  effect  of  this  cam- 
paign, the  country  being  low  and  marshy,  showed  itself 
in  an  immense  sick  list  of  malarial  diseases.  The  Con- 
federate Army  had  one  great  advantage,  its  personnel 
was  inured  to  the  climate,  and  furthermore  the  enemy 
operated  always  on  interior  lines  and  near  his  base. 

It  would  be  safe  to  say  that  Grant's  force  was  depleted 
fifty  per  cent.,  as  against  a  depletion  in  the  ranks  of  his 

*  Army  of  the  Potomac,  one  hundred  thousand;  Army  of  the 
James,  twenty-two  thousand.     Burnside's  Corps  increased  Grant's 
available  force  by  twenty  thousand  men. 
10 


146  WEST  POINT 

adversary  of  not  more  than  thirty  per  cent,  up  to  the 
time  a  lodgment  was  effected  by  the  Union  Army  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  James  River  at  City  Point,  Va.  The 
strength  of  the  opposing  armies  in  July,  1864,  may  be 
reckoned  at  seventy  thousand  and  forty  thousand  men, 
and  in  favor  of  the  Union  Army. 

Grant,  as  he  had  the  right  to  do,  counted  upon  large 
reinforcements  to  be  obtained  by  conscription,  whereas 
the  losses  of  his  adversaries  from  day  to  day  could  no 
longer  be  compensated. 

The  Rebellion  was  "  on  its  last  legs,"  so  to  speak,  and 
the  game,  with  loss  of  four  or  even  six  to  one,  could  be 
played  with  impunity  by  the  commander  of  the  Union 
armies.  It  is  next  in  order  to  refer  to  certain  incidents 
of  the  campaign  brought  under  the  personal  notice  of 
the  writer. 

The  cause  of  the  explosion  of  one  of  the  numerous 
barges  at  City  Point,  Va.,  on  August  9th,  was  not  ascer- 
tained until  the  trial  of  the  assassins  of  President  Lin- 
coln, when  the  work  was  traced  to  the  torpedo  bureau 
at  Richmond.  A  clock-work  torpedo  was  placed  in 
the  barge  by  a  negro  emissary  and  so  regulated  as  to 
explode  between  the  hours  of  12  and  i  P.  ,M.,  an  hour 
when  it  was  assumed  that  the  laboring  force  would  be 
absent  for  dinner.  The  object,  as  later  disclosed,  was 
not  to  destroy  human  life,  but  to  lay  waste  the  depot 
of  supplies  of  the  Union  armies.  Gen.  Rufus  Ingalls, 
in  his  annual  report,  dated  September  28,  1865,  says: 
"  On  the  Qth  of  August,  near  noon,  there  occurred  a 
fearful  explosion  in  the  midst  of  the  City  Point  depot, 


FINAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  CIVIL  WAR      147 

killing  and  wounding  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  em- 
ployees and  soldiers,  throwing  down  over  six  hundred 
feet  in  length  of  warehouses,  and  tearing  up  some  one 
hundred  and  eighty  linear  feet  of  the  wharf. 

"  It  was  found  that  a  barge  laden  with  ordnance 
stores  had  been  blown  up.  Immense  quantities  of  shot 
and  shell  were  thrown  into  the  air  and  much  of  it  fell 
into  the  encampment  of  the  Lieutenant-General,  wound- 
ing however  only  one,  Colonel  Bab,cock,  of  his  staff. 
The  Lieutenant-General  himself  seems  proof  against  the 
accidents  of  flood  and  field." 

It  was  assumed  at  the  time  that  this  explosion  was 
the  result  of  accident  and  the  wreck  of  the  ordnance 
material  was  cleared  up  and  removed  to  a  point  well 
away  from  the  central  point  of  the  general  depot. 

General  Grant  reported  "Every  part  of  the  yard  used 
as  my  headquarters  is  filled  with  splinters  and  frag- 
ments of  shell.  I  do  not  know  yet  what  the  casualties 
are  beyond  my  own  headquarters.  Colonel  Babcock  is 
slightly  wounded  in  hand  and  one  mounted  orderly 
killed  and  two  or  three  wounded  and  several  horses 
killed. 

"  The  damage  to  wharf  must  be  considerable  both  in 
life  and  property." 

As  is  not  unusual,  after  any  tragic  event,  many  were 
the  stories  told  of  hairbreadth  escapes.  The  Fifth  Cav- 
alry officers  with  Grant's  escort  at  headquarters  were 
having  a  quiet  "  little  game  "  with  Clitz  of  the  Navy 
holding  "  a  full "  and  holding  it  so  fast  that  when 
the  cyclone  struck  the  party  and  dropped  Clitz  some 


148  WEST  POINT 

twenty  feet  or  more  away,  behind  a  barrel,  there  he  sat, 
still  gripping1  his  cards  and  ready  to  go  on  with  the 
game. 

A  darky  riding  up  the  hill  on  a  mule  was  seen  for 
the  last  time  and  the  quartermaster  was  short  one  mule, 
but  the  saddle  was  recovered  on  the  ridge  pole  of  a  tent 
some  quarter  of  a  mile  or  so  away.  A  clerk  in  the  office 
on  the  bluff  had  a  shell  pass  through  the  wall  and  over 
his  head,  but  as  he  fled  across  the  yard,  when  escaping 
through  a  back  window,  he  was  struck  in  the  neck  by 
another  shell  and  killed  outright. 

Under  date,  Richmond,  June  3,  1865,  Maj.-Gen.  H. 
W.  Halleck  writes  the  Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secre- 
tary of  War:  "  I  have  just  received  the  original  official 
report  of  John  Maxwell  of  the  Rebel  Secret  Service,  of 
the  blowing  up  of  the  ordnance  stores  at  City  Point,  last 
year.  It  appears  that  the  explosion  was  caused  by  a 
horological  torpedo  placed  on  the  barge  by  John  Max- 
well and  R.  K.  Dillard."  The  following  is  an  extract 
from  the  report  of  John  Maxwell  above  referred  to,  and 
is  interesting  in  connection  with  the  facts  before  given 
relative  to  an  occurrence  of  a  very  exceptional  nature: 
"  On  arriving  in  Isle  of  Wight  County,  on  the  2d  of 
August,  we  learned  of  immense  supplies  of  stores  being 
landed  at  City  Point,  and  for  the  purpose,  by  stratagem, 
of  introducing  our  machine  upon  the  vessels  there  dis- 
charging stores,  started  for  that  point.  We  reached 
there  before  daybreak  on  the  Qth  of  August  last,  with 
a  small  amount  of  provisions,  having  traveled  mostly 
by  night  and  crawled  upon  our  knees  to  pass  the  east 


FINAL  CAMPAIGN   OF  CIVIL  WAR       149 

picket  line.  Requesting  my  companion  to  remain  be- 
hind about  half  a  mile  I  approached  cautiously  the 
wharf,  with  my  machine  and  powder  covered  by  a  small 
box.  Finding  the  Captain  had  come  ashore  from  a  barge 
then  at  the  wharf,  I  seized  the  occasion  to  hurry  forward 
with  my  box.  Being  halted  by  one  of  the  wharf  sen- 
tinels I  succeeded  in  passing  him  by  representing  that 
the  captain  had  ordered  me  to  convey  the  box  on  board. 
Hailing  a  man  from  the  barge  I  put  the  machine  in 
motion  and  gave  it  in  his  charge.  He  carried  it  aboard. 
The  magazine  contained  about  twelve  pounds  of  powder. 
Rejoining  my  companion,  we  retired  to  a  safe  distance 
to  witness  the  effect  of  our  effort.  In  about  an  hour 
the  explosion  occurred.  Its  effect  was  communicated 
to  another  barge  beyond  the  one  operated  upon  and 
also  to  a  large  wharf  building  containing  their  stores 
(enemy's),  which  was  totally  destroyed.  The  scene  was 
terrific,  and  the  effect  deafened  my  companion  to  an 
extent  from  which  he  has  not  recovered.  My  own 
person  was  severely  shocked,  but  I  am  thankful  to 
Providence  that  we  have  both  escaped  without  lasting 
injury.  We  obtained  and  refer  you  to  the  inclosed 
slips  from  the  enemy's  newspapers,  which  afford  their 
testimony  of  the  terrible  effects  of  this  blow.  The  enemy 
estimates  the  loss  of  life  at  fifty-eight  killed  and  one 
hundred  and  twenty-six  wounded,  but  we  have  reason 
to  believe  it  greatly  exceeded  that.  The  pecuniary 
damage  we  heard  estimated  at  four  million  dollars,  but, 
of  course,  we  can  give  you  no  account  of  the  extent  of 
it  exactly." 


150  WEST  POINT 

Gen.  Rufus  Ingalls,  U.  S.  A.,  in  his  report  for  the 
years  1864-1865,  says  further  that:  "On  the  evening 
of  the  23d  of  January,  1865,  it  was  known  that  the 
Rebels  were  apparently  preparing  to  make  a  raid  down 
the  James  with  their  fleet  of  ironclads  and  wooden  boats 
for  the  purpose  of  destroying  our  depots  on  the  river, 
particularly  that  great  one  at  City  Point,  where  sup- 
plies had  been  accumulated  and  stores  to  meet  the  wants 
of  the  armies  in  case  the  James  River  and  northern  ports 
should  be  closed  by  ice.  The  weather  was  already  very 
inclement,  and  the  Potomac  and  Delaware  were  then, 
or  shortly  afterward,  rendered  entirely  unnavigable  by 
ice. 

"  Early  on  the  24th  the  Rebel  fleet  approached  our 
obstructions,  and  one  of  the  ironclads  passed  them,  but 
the  one  following  got  foul  upon  them.  Our  batteries 
made  obstinate  resistance,  and  blew  up  one  of  the 
smaller  gunboats.  Our  men  even  were  led  with  great 
effort  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  poured  volleys  of 
musketry  into  the  ram  that  had  passed  the  obstruc- 
tions. The  Navy  at  that  point  were  not  prepared  at  the 
moment  for  any  effective  resistance.  Had  the  Rebels 
persisted  at  that  time  they  could,  had  they  succeeded, 
have  inflicted  upon  us  incalculable  losses,  the  result  of 
which  no  one  can  pretend  now  to  estimate;  but  most 
fortunately  for  us  they  abandoned  the  raid  and  retired 
to  their  former  position.  Two  or  three  days  later  it 
was  impossible  for  these  boats  to  make  a  descent.  The 
Navy  was  thoroughly  prepared,  and  I  had  sent,  by  order 
of  the  Lieutenant-General,  my  aide-de-camp,  Bvt.  Capt. 


FINAL  CAMPAIGN   OF  CIVIL  WAR      151 

J.  W.  French,  Eighth  Infantry,  up  the  river  with  vessels 
laden  with  coal,  who  sunk  two  on  the  night  of  the 
25th  to  fill  up  the  gap  made  in  the  obstructions.  He 
performed  this  service  under  the  enemy's  guns  with 
great  gallantry." 

A  correspondent  with  the  Army  thus  writes:  "The 
extent  of  the  depot  at  City  Point,  necessary  to  supply 
an  army  of  one  hundred  thousand  or  more  men,  may  be 
imagined  as  well  perhaps  as  it  can  be  described.  It 
consisted  of  a  levee,  which  in  its  whole  continuous  length 
was  one  range  of  solid  and  substantial  frame  buildings; 
the  levee  itself  in  length  and  width  being  of  proportions 
enough  to  remind  one  almost  of  that  at  New  Orleans, 
while  the  network  of  railway  tracks  crossing  and  recross- 
ing  each  other,  the  jetties  thrown  out  to  meet  the  river 
in  every  direction  would  not  disgrace  a  San  Francisco 
or  Chicago  in  the  brightest  days  of  its  youth. 

"  In  passing  from  one  to  the  other  of  the  barges  and 
vessels  of  the  Ordnance  Depot  the  huge  hatches  re- 
moved showed  field  ammunition  in  unlimited  abundance. 

"  Hotchkiss  and  Schenkle  shells  and  projectiles,  Par- 
rots, Absterdams,  case,  and  canister  in  most  suggestive 
quantities." 

Reference  to  this  new  type  of  projectile  brings  to 
mind  a  query  propounded  by  Abraham  Lincoln  when 
visiting  the  Army  on  a  tour  of  inspection.  When  passing 
through  the  depot  of  supplies,  he  pointed  to  one  of  the 
boxes  marked  with  its  contents  and  inquired  "  What  is 
the  difference,  Captain,  between  an  Absterdam  pro- 
jectile and  any  other  damn  projectile?"  and  then  ab- 


152  WEST  POINT 

ruptly  turning  to  a  rack  of  harness;  "  Why  is  it,"  he 
said,  "  that  they  say  '  Sorrow  leaves  its  traces  behind,' 
but  they  never  say  anything  about  the  other  parts  of 
the  harness?"  "Mr.  President,"  this  officer  replied, 
"for  my  part  I  never  could  believe  that  Providence 
had  sent  a  few  men  into  the  world  ready  booted 
and  spurred  to  ride,  and  millions  ready  saddled  and 
bridled  to  be  ridden."  "Ah!  I  see,  Captain,"  said  the 
President,  "  you  '  kick  over  the  traces/  ' 

Not  many  weeks  after  this  conversation  on  a  bright 
April  morning,  near  the  noon  hour,  from  a  seat  just 
in  front  of  the  superintendent's  quarters  at  West  Point, 
the  officer  referred  to  noticed  the  lowering  of  the  flag 
at  an  unusual  hour,  to  half  staff.  He  remarked  at  the 
time,  but  without  knowing,  "  Abraham  Lincoln  has 
been  assassinated!"  Thirty-six  years  thereafter,  as  this 
officer  was  standing  near  the  same  spot,  the  battalion  of 
cadets,  when  forming  for  parade,  was  suddenly  dis- 
missed, and  in  a  few  moments  thereafter  the  flag 
dropped  to  half  staff.  What  does  that  mean?  every  one 
asked.  It  meant  that  President  McKinley  had  met 
with  the  fate  that  befell  Abraham  Lincoln. 

This  was  the  evening  of  the  day  President  McKinley 
had  been  shot  and  a  rumor  had  reached  the  Point  that 
he  was  dead. 

Shortly  after  Lincoln's  death  this  same  officer  was 
observing  the  battalion  of  cadets  at  drill;  it  was  a  bright 
autumnal  afternoon,  not  a  cloud  to  be  seen.  Suddenly 
a  flash  and  terrific  peal  of  thunder  —  a  tree  just  in  front 


FINAL  CAMPAIGN   OF  CIVIL  WAR      153 

of  the  general  parade  ground  was  struck  and  the  whole 
battalion  received  a  shock;  several  men  being  carried 
away  prostrate.  "  A  bolt  out  of  a  clear  sky,"  and  for  the 
third  time. 


Brig.-Gen.  Peter  S.  Michie,  Chief  Engineer  of  the 
Army  of  the  James,  and  the  Ordnance  Officers  of  the 
Army  were  charged  with  the  work  of  opening  the  Dutch 
Gap  Canal.  A  photogravure  plate  shows  the  work  in 

a  state  of  progress  and  before  the  bulkhead  was  blown 
out. 

This  work,  it  was  expected,  when  accomplished, 
would  reduce  by  seven  miles  the  route  by  water  to 
Richmond,  thus  avoiding  the  formidable  Confederate 
batteries  at  Drury's  Bluff,  and  compelling  the  enemy 
to  withdraw  his  gunboats  at  that  point. 

The  mine  was  prepared  and  the  bulkhead  (two  mil- 
lion cubic  feet  of  earth)  blown  up,  but,  unfortunately, 
not  blown  out;  so  that,  in  point  of  fact,  as  a  military 
work  this  was  a  failure,  although  from  a  commercial 
standpoint  it  has  proved  to  be  a  great  success. 

Not  far  from  the  headquarters  at  City  Point  the 
Confederate  cavalry  broke  through  our  lines  and  drove 
off  a  very  large  herd  of  cattle.  The  unfortunate  experi- 
ence had  at  the  time  with  the  Spencer  rifle  (a  breech- 
loader) by  the  regiment  guarding  the  cattle  was  such 
as  to  confirm  the"  objection  to  the  breech-loading  system 
and  give  point  to  the  argument  that  if  men  can  fire  too 


154  WEST  POINT 

readily  and  too  quickly  the  arm  will  become  a  useless 
incumbrance, —  and  would  be  thrown  away  by  troops  in 
retreating. 

By  way  of  retaliation  for  making  way  with  the  cattle 
our  cavalry  was  sent  out  to  scour  the  country  south  of 
the  James  River,  within  a  radius  of  fifty  miles  of  City 
Point.  The  orders  were  to  bring  in  everything  on  the 
hoof,  dead  or  alive. 

An  officer  of  the  Fifth  Cavalry  found  when  on  this  raid 
at  a  farmhouse  but  one  cow,  the  only  property  of  this 
kind  left,  and  a  young  mother  entirely  dependent  upon 
it  for  the  food  for  her  infant. 

He  was  compelled,  under  his  orders,  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  animal,  but  invited  the  young  woman  with 
her  child  in  arms  to  ride  behind  him.  for  some  distance 
until  he  could  communicate  with  his  senior  in  command, 
and  obtain  permission  to  purchase  the  cow,  and  nothing, 
he  said,  ever  gave  him  more  pleasure  than  the  return 
of  the  animal  to  its  original  owner. 

One  other  officer  of  the  raiding  party  found  a  farm- 
house filled  in  its  upper  story  with  barrels  of  applejack. 
These  he  ordered  broken  open  and  the  contents  spilled, 
as  he  wished  to  keep  his  troopers  in  condition  to  get 
back  to  camp.  Passing  a  door  on  the  lower  floor  he 
discovered  his  men  in  a  room  walking  around  with  heads 
thrown  back  and  mouths  wide  open  catching  the  liquor 
as  it  filtered  through  the  ceiling. 

Speaking  of  applejack  reminds  us:  Eight  light 
batteries  were  camped  at  Brandy  Station,  Va.,  in  De- 
cember, 1863,  Major  Fiiger,  then  lieutenant  of  the 


FINAL  CAMPAIGN   OF  CIVIL  WAR      155 

Fourth  Artillery,  had  a  rare  experience  with  one  of  his 
corporals,  Stewart  by  name,  who  had  taken  an  overdose 
of  this  beverage.  It  appears  that  Stewart,  who  joined  the 
battery  November,  1861,  had,  by  his  good  conduct, 
strict  attention  to  duty,  and  his  intelligence,  been  made 
a  corporal.  He  was  considered,  without  exception,  one 
of  the  best  noncommissioned  officers  in  the  battery;  but, 
unfortunately  for  him,  on  a  day  in  the  month  of  Janu- 
ary, 1864,  he  got  hold  of  some  vile  applejack;  and, 
although  he  did  not  appear  to  be  intoxicated,  yet,  while 
under  its  influence,  he  equipped  himself  with  his  revolver 
and  threatened  every  one  who  approached  him. 

The  sergeant  of  the  guard  reported  the  facts  of  the 
case  to  Lieutenant  Fuger,  who  buckled  on  his  sabre 
and  revolver,  and  arrested  the  corporal.  The  corporal 
became  so  violent  and  abusive  that  he  was  tied  up  to 
a  spare  wheel  (quite  the  custom  in  those  days),  a  pro- 
cess generally  described  as  "  spread  eagle/'  Lieutenant 
Fuger  then  returned  to  his  tent,  but  in  a  short  time  the 
sergeant  of  the  guard  reported  that  Stewart  had  broken 
loose,  and  was  in  front  of  his  own  tent,  armed  with 
sabre  and  pistol.  Lieutenant  Fuger  immediately 
buckled  on  his  sabre  and  revolver  and  proceeded  to  the 
battery  parade  ground. 

On  his  approach  Stewart  rushed  to  the  battery  park, 
climbed  up  a  large  tree;  and,  when  Lieutenant  Fuger 
was  within  a  short  distance  from  the  tree,  he  called  upon 
Stewart  to  surrender.  Stewart  fired  a  shot  at  the  lieu- 
tenant, which  fire  was  returned.  Stewart  was  hit  in 
the  right  cheek.  The  lieutenant  and  corporal  then 


156  WEST  POINT 

exchanged  five  shots,  but  as  Stewart's  sixth  shot 
missed  fire,  he  threw  the  pistol  at  Lieutenant  Fiiger, 
climbed  to  the  top  of  the  tree,  and  drew  his  sabre,  shout- 
ing, "  I  am  a  British  soldier,  and  never  surrender." 
In  this  shooting  match  Stewart  was  hit  four  times ;  once 
in  the  cheek,  as  before  stated;  once  in  the  left  leg;  once 
in  the  shoulder,  and  by  the  fourth  shot  in  the  right 
thigh,  and  was  bleeding  profusely.  It  was  not  the 
intention  of  the  lieutenant  to  kill  him,  but  as  he  would 
not  surrender  or  come  down  from  the  tree  two  men  of 
the  battery  were  ordered  to  bring  up  sharp  axes  from 
the  battery  wagon,  and  chop  down  the  tree.  These 
men  were  good  wood  choppers,  and  to  facilitate  matters 
worked  on  opposite  sides  of  the  tree.  The  lieutenant 
then  gave  Stewart  one  more  chance  to  come  down, 
shouting  to  him:  "  You  had  better  get  down  now,  or 
you'll  come  down  with  a  rush  and  break  your  darned 
neck."  At  this  point  Stewart  realized  the  situation, 
returned  his  sabre  to  its  scabbard,  and  threw  it  from 
the  top  of  the  tree  at  the  lieutenant.  When  he  had 
climbed  down  and  reached  the  ground  he  knocked  down 
two  members  of  the  guard,  after  which  the  lieutenant 
grappled  with  him  and  threw  him  to  the  ground.  The 
corporal  was  then  placed  on  a  stretcher  and  taken  to 
the  hospital,  where  the  doctor  extracted  four  bullets 
from  his  body. 

Apparently  he  was  perfectly  sober,  talked  rationally, 
and  would  not  allow  the  doctor  to  give  him  anything 
to  alleviate  his  pain,  simply  saying:  "  Take  the  bullets 
out."  During  the  operation  he  did  not  move  a  muscle, 


FINAL  CAMPAIGN   OF  CIVIL  WAR      157 

and  bore  the  pain  in  a  most  heroic  manner.  That  even- 
ing  he  sent  for  Lieutenant  Fiiger,  begged  his  pardon, 
and  hoped  that  neither  he  nor  any  other  member  of  the 
battery  was  injured.  The  corporal  now  realized  what  he 
had  done.  He  stated  that,  as  he  had  never  been  in  a 
hospital  before  in  his  life,  he  would  like  to  go  to  duty  at 
once;  but  the  lieutenant  explained  to  him  that  as  he  was 
under  the  care  of  the  doctor  he  could  be  restored  to  duty 
only  by  the  doctor's  order. 

In  this  encampment  of  eight  batteries,  with  a  comple- 
ment of  over  a  thousand  men,  all  of  them  were  attracted 
to  the  scene,  and  to  within  four  hundred  yards  of  the 
tree,  by  the  repeated  discharge  of  the  pistols;  and  all 
anxiously  and  eagerly  watched  the  result  of  the  im- 
promptu duel,  fearing  lest  the  lieutenant  might  get  the 
worst  of  it. 

Investigation  followed,  and  a  court-martial  was 
ordered,  there  being  about  twelve  witnesses  called  be- 
sides Lieutenant  Fiiger,  The  proceedings  of  the  board 
were  published  to  the  brigade,  exonerating  the  lieu- 
tenant from  all  blame,  and  in  the  order  it  was  stated 
that  upon  the  recovery  of  Stewart  he  should  be  brought 
to  trial  for  mutinous  conduct.  The  lieutenant  was  so 
much  impressed  by  the  courage  shown  by  this  man, 
who  he  had  always  been  such  a  good  soldier  before  the 
affair,  that  he  did  "  all  that  he  possibly  could  to  get  the 
corporal  off."  The  general  court-martial  however  dis- 
charged the  corporal  from  the  service,  and  sentenced 
him  to  ten  years'  confinement  at  Dry  Tortugas,  Florida. 


158  WEST  POINT 

Lieutenant  Fuger  never  again  saw  the  man  or  learned 
what  became  of  him;  but  during  the  course  of  the  trial 
he  persuaded  Stewart  to  call  him  as  his  witness,  and  in 
his  usual  generous  spirit  he  gave  Corporal  Stewart  a 
most  excellent  character,  and  pleaded  with  the  court 
in  his  behalf.  Lieutenant  now  Major  Fuger  informed 
us  that  he  had  a  great  admiration  and  affection  for  this 
man  Stewart,  as  he  was,  up  to  the  time  of  this  shooting 
affair,  one  of  the  best  soldiers  in  the  battery,  had  never 
given  any  trouble,  was  a  most  excellent  gunner,  under- 
stood his  duties  thoroughly,  and  hence,  as  he  said,  "  I 
worked  for  all  that  I  was  worth  to  get  him  off  from 
punishment,  and  to  have  him  restored  to  duty  with  the 
battery." 

The  above  facts  are  stated  almost  as  they  were  recited 
by  the  Major  himself. 

At  the  lower  Brandon  Mansion  on  the  James  River 
some  fifteen  miles  below  City  Point,  two  troops  of  the 
raiding  party  had  put  up  for  the  night  at  this  grand  but 
then  deserted  old  Southern  homestead. 

The  writer  had  visited  this  place  when  a  boy  and 
occupied  the  room  in  which  the  following  incident 
occurred  some  eight  years  before. 

The  boys  of  the  family  had  all  returned  from  school 
for  the  Christmas  holidays.  There  were  eight  of  us  in 
all,  occupying  the  only  second-story  room  in  this  house, 
as  the  Southern  houses  are  many  of  them  built  with 
almost  all  the  bedrooms  on  the  lower  floor.  In  this 
room,  which  was  very  commodious,  there  were  four 
high-post  bedsteads.  Two  boys  to  a  bed  (a  feather  bed), 


FINAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  CIVIL  WAR      159 

and  at  the  foot  of  each  bed  an  armchair  containing  a 
small  darky.  The  darkies  were  provided  out  of  the 
superabundance  of  things  at  the  time,  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  assisting  the  young  gentlemen  off  and  on  with 
their  clothing. 

The  writer  has  attended  a  great  many  reveille  roll- 
calls  during  the  forty  years  or  more  of  his  army  service, 
but  none  ever  impressed  him  as  the  one  he  attended  on 
that  Christmas  morning.  It  is  the  custom  in  the  South 
to  celebrate  Christmas  much  as  the  Northerners  cele- 
brate the  Fourth  of  July.  The  boys  had  supplied  them- 
selves with  a  large  stock  of  firecrackers,  and  the  reveille 
gun  for  the  occasion  was  very  much  on  the  Catling  gun 
order.  A  pack  of  ignited  firecrackers  was  placed  in  the 
bed  between  two  of  the  boys,  and  the  resulting  effect 
was  much  more  disastrous  than  the  practical  jokers 
had  anticipated,  a  case  of  homemade  "  hazing  ".  It  is 
not  recommended  to  boys  to  try  this  method  of  cele- 
brating Christmas,  even  if  they  must  stick  to  the 
firecrackers. 

On  the  parlor  wall  there  was  a  sketch  of  lower  Bran- 
don made  by  the  writer  in  earlier  years,  which  served 
as  a  reminder  of  his  first  visit  to  this  once  hospitable 
but  then  deserted  mansion.  Major  Walsh  of  the  Third 
Pennsylvania  Cavalry  was  with  us  on  this  raid  and  the 
horses  of  the  several  troops  were  picketed  on  the 
grounds  and  the  officers  made  themselves  as  comfort- 
able as  possible  in  the  house  for  the  night. 

The  Major  related  an  experience  he  had  had  the  pre- 
vious night  at  "  Shirley  "  on  the  James. 


160  WEST  POINT 

It  appears  that  the  darkies  reported  an  officer  of 
the  Confederate  cavalry  as  visiting  his  family  at  the 
Shirley  Mansion.  The  house  was  surrounded  by 
Major  Walsh's  troops,  and  the.  old  gentleman,  the 
father  of  the  Confederate  officer,  would  neither  affirm 
nor  deny  the  truth  of  the  report  concerning  his  son, 
but  invited  the  Major  to  search  the  house  if  he  so 
desired.  There  was  one  room  to  which  the  latter  was  at 
first  denied  admittance,  that  of  the  daughters  of  the 
family,  who  had  retired  for  the  night.  The  hour  was 
suspiciously  early  for  this,  and  the  young  ladies  were 
therefore  required  either  to  get  up,  dress,  and  vacate 
the  room,  or  else  cover  themselves  up  and  permit 
the  entrance  of  the  searching  party.  The  gallantry  of 
the  Major  got  the  better  of  his  judgment,  and  later  on 
it  was  learned  that  one  of  the  two  young  ladies  was 
equipped  with  boots  and  spurs  and  made  her  escape  un- 
der cover  of  this  deception.  The  Major  was  much 
chagrined  that  he  had  been  so  outwitted. 

Since  the  Major  tells  stories  on  himself  and  on  his 
regiment  we  may  as  well  give  him  free  rein.  The  regi- 
ment on  its  four-year  war  record  can  stand  this.  When 
it  first  appeared  in  the  field  it  was  for  a  green  regiment 
ridiculously  armed,  that  is,  with  the  lance,  a  weapon 
ordinarily  supplied  to  none  but  the  best  cavalry. 

"  The  Rush  Lancers "  never  appeared  without  the 
greeting  "Gobble!  gobble!  gobble!"  on  all  sides 
(each  lance  carried  a  small  red  pennant),  a  sort  of  "  Hail 
to  the  Chief "  business.  On  one  occasion  just  after  a 
severe  engagement  with  the  enemy  a  private  of  the 


FINAL  CAMPAIGN   OF  CIVIL  WAR      161 

lancers  and  one  of  a  regular  battery  were  engaged  in 
hot  dispute.  An  old  Irish  sergeant  of  the  battery  rode 
up  and  inquired:  "  Phawt's  the  row?"  "Well,  ser- 
geant, this  fellow  says  this  is  his  lance  and  I  say  it's 
mine."  Oh!  shure,"  said  the  sergeant,  "  give  the  feller 
his  shriek." 

*  NOTE. —  [See  reference  on  p.  144.] 

A  word  in  this  connection  is  not  misplaced.  The  Union  Army 
at  Malvern  Hill  was  disposed  in  the  form  of  a  huge  semi-circle, 
its  wings  resting  on  the  river  and  protected  by  the  fire  of  the 
gun  boats.  There  was  an  open  plateau  about  sixty  feet  above 
the  water  level,  where  the  army  made  its  stand.  Reserve  bat- 
teries of  twenty  and  thirty-two  pounders  with  rifled  and  Napoleon 
guns  were  in  line,  and  with  the  infantry  below  awaiting  the 
attack.  Fully  sixty  pieces  had  a  converging  fire  from  Fitz  John 
Porter's  line,  and  all  along  the  crest  of  the  hill,  whenever  one 
was  needed,  a  battery  made  its  appearance  at  the  moment.  Tid- 
ball's  horse  battery,  as  well  as  the  batteries  of  Benson  and 
Robinson,  were  credited  by  Gen.  Alexander  S.  Webb  with  having 
contributed  greatly  to  the  success  of  the  day. 

In  referring  to  the  first  battle  of  the  seven  days'  contest  as  a 
Union  victory  let  us  see  what  General  Webb,  in  his  Peninsular 
Campaign,  Scribner  series,  has  to  say:  '**.*•*  A  careful 
reading  of  D.  H.  Hill's  report  of  his  part  of  the  battle,  shows 
plainly  the  loss  and  demoralization  of  his  division,  and  gives  a 
glimpse  of  the  disorder  hidden  by  the  woods  about  the  little 
parsonage. 

"  No  more  positive  admission  of  defeat  with  loss  and  disorder 
can  be  looked  for.  Hill  upbraids  everybody,  from  the  commander- 
in-chief  down  to  Whiting  and  Holmes,  whom  he  asserts  were  not 
engaged  at  all.  *  *  * 

"  As  Magruder  got  his  men  in  place,  the  fire  from  these  bat- 
teries became,  as  stated,  intense.  His  plan  was  to  put  fifteen 
thousand  men  in  line  and  charge  the  batteries  and  supporting 
infantry,  to  follow  up  success  with  fresh  troops,  and  if  repulsed 
to  hold  the  line  where  he  then  was  on  the  hill.  His  caution  as 
to  repulse  was  one  that  did  credit  to  his  military  sagacity  and 
was  fully  justified  by  events. 

"  Although  the  batteries  were  not  carried,  the  assault  con- 
tributed much  to  the  rout,  panic,  and  demoralization  which  marked 
II 


162  WEST  POINT 

the  enemy's  escape  from  the  field  early  in  the  night.  Darkness 
set  in  and  he  concluded  to  let  the  battle  subside  and  occupy  the 
field;  pickets  were  set  and  a  part  of  Armistead's  brigade  encamped 
within  one  hundred  yards  of  the  Union  guns.  *  *  * 

"  About  the  same  time  that  D.  H.  Hill  advanced  to  make  his 
attack  —  say  about  5:30  p.  M. —  Magruder,  who  waited  in  vain  for 
the  thirty  pieces  of  rifled  artillery  for  which  he  had  sent  to  silence 
the  Union  fire,  became  impatient  at  the  delay,  and  ordered  Gen- 
eral Armistead's  brigade  to  advance,  and  at  the  same  time  put 
his  own  division  in  motion.  He  sent  forward  Wright's  brigade 
first,  Mahone's  next,  substituted  three  regiments  of  Cobb's  for 
the  remainder  of  Armistead's  raw  troops,  sent  in  General  Ran- 
som to  his  left,  in  person  superintended  the  advance  of  Barks- 
dale's  brigade  of  his  own  division,  and  sent  staff  officers  in  quick 
succession  to  urge  an  attack  by  Huger  on  his  left.  As  they 
emerged  from  the  cover  of  the  woods  in  which  their  line  was 
formed  and  breasted  the  slope  of  the  hill,  now  swept  by  the  con- 
verging fire  of  the  heavy  batteries  at  the  Crew  house,  the  advance 
was  checked,  but  they  were  easily  rallied  and  led  again  with  fury 
to  the  attack;  but  the  line  made  no  further  progress,  even  in 
Magruder's  report.  Ransom  and  Jones,  with  the  remainder  of 
Armistead's  men,  were  urged  forward  to  the  support  of  their 
faltering  comrades.  McLaw's  division  was  also  sent  in  by  order 
of  General  Lee,  and  Magruder  was  urged  to  press  the  enemy  on 
the  right.  They  advanced  bravely  all  along  the  line,  but  only 
to  recoil  before  the  storm  of  missiles  which  each  fresh  effort  on 
their  part  drew  from  the  heavy  guns.  The  day  was  drawing  to 
an  end  and  Magruder  gave  his  attention  to  securing  the  ravine 
and  woods  where  he  had  formed  his  line,  and  to  procuring  rein- 
forcements to  guard  against  any  reverse.  All  the  Rebel  generals 
ascribe  their  failure  to  reach  the  hill  to  the  preponderance  of  the 
artillery  fire  on  the  Union  side,  their  own  inefficiency  in  that 
arm,  and  to  want  of  support  and  co-operation  in  attack.  In  truth 
there  seems  to  have  been  few  orders  issued  on  the  first  by  the 
Rebel  general-in-chief." 

It  may  not  be  admitted  by  General  Webb  that  the  Union  Army 
suffered  the  loss  of  a  single  battery. 

It  is  said  however  that  a  Dutch  captain  did  lose  his  guns,  and 
when  court-martialed  for  cowardice  entered  the  plea  of  "  guilty" 
but  with  extenuating  circumstances:  "  Mein  guns  vos  long  rang' 
gyns  und  ven  de  enemy  got  closh  dey  vos  no  gpot." 


CHAPTER  X 
DISCIPLINE  AND  READINESS  FOR  WAR 

ALL  concede  that  on  points  of  professional  training 
the  regular  officer  should  be,  if  he  is  not,  the  su- 
perior of  the  volunteer;  but  that  the  latter  is  as 
brave  as  the  former  has  never  been  disputed.    In  fact,  in 
differentiating  this  question  of  courage  in  individuals,  it 
may  be  that  the  volunteer  deserves  more  credit  than  does 
the  regular,  for  the  reason  that  he  is  under  no  hard- 
and-fast  obligation  to  enter  the  service  at  the  outbreak 
of  hostilities,  whereas  the  regular  contracts  beforehand 
for  service  from  which  he  cannot  escape,  though  he 
should  so  desire.     "  Personal  pluck  is  not  rare  among 
men,  but  it  is  not  always  reliable,  except  perhaps  in 
single  combat."     "Where  men  combine  either  for. at- 
tack or  defense  the  leader  needs  it,  but  the  followers 
will  do  better  with  discipline."       "  The  courage  —  so 
called  —  of  a  company  or  any  other  military  organiza- 
tion is  the  courage  of  its  commander.     It  has  no  refer- 
ence to  men  in  ranks.     Their  merit,  if  they  have  any, 
is  in  their  discipline.     If  they  fail  to  follow  their  leader 
they  are  not  necessarily  cowards.     They  are  only  un- 
disciplined."* 

We  are  glad  to  see  that  the  past  shortcomings  of  the 
Corps  of    Cadets   at  West  Point    has  been    attributed 

*  Chester. 
163 


164  WEST  POINT 

rather  to  the  action  of  individuals  than  to  a  corps' 
defect,  exceptions  in  good  conduct  resting  with  the 
individual  who  has  not  been  and  sometimes  cannot 
be  brought  under  the  rules  of  strict  discipline;  and  it 
is  gratifying  to  see  that  while  it  is  recognized  that  we  are 
not  a  military  nation  in  the  ordinary  acceptance  of  the 
term,  it  is  now  universally  admitted  that  we  should  have 
some  school  where  the  principle  of  obedience  and  dis- 
cipline shall  be  enforced. 

Major  James  Chester,  U.  S.  A.,  says:  "  Military  disci- 
pline is  peculiar,  and  therefore  often  misunderstood.  It 
cannot  be  taught  by  preaching;  it  cannot  be  learned 
from  books;  it  cannot  be  explained  to  the  laity;  its 
methods  are  repugnant  to  democracy;  many  of  the 
people  honestly  believe  that  it  should  have  for  its 
foundation  a  majority  vote;  but  the  men  who  know  it 
and  have  been  trained  in  its  methods,  and  have  wit- 
nessed its  operation,  know  better.  They  know  that 
there  can  be  but  one  commanding  officer  in  an  army, 
and  that  his  orders  must  be  obeyed.  A  government 
by  discipline  is  akin  to  the  discipline  of  the  gods  and 
therefore  despotic."  "  There  is  no  room  in  the  line 
of  battle  for  a  town  meeting,"  and  he  further  says  that 
"  the  discipline  of  peace  should  be  the  same  as  the  disci- 
pline of  war."  "  Town  meeting  methods  are  out  of 
place  at  any  time."  "  Discipline  means  efficiency;  main- 
tain it  or  disband  the  Army." 

The  practical  problem  now  before  us,  in  view  of  the 
volunteers  being  disbanded,  necessitates  the  recruiting 
of  our  regular  establishment  to  a  maximum  of,  say,  one 


READINESS  FOR  WAR  165 

hundred  thousand  men,  more  or  less.  This  renders  it 
difficult  in  the  extreme  to  discriminate  in,  the  matter  of 
enlistments  as  heretofore,  where  for  one  man  accepted 
ten  were  rejected. 

Officers  of  all  armies  have  admitted  that  the  regulars 
who  took  the  field  at  Santiago  de  Cuba  were  both 
physically  and  morally  (these  words  go  often  hand  in 
hand)  superior  to  any  troops  in  the  world,  owing  to 
the  great  precautions  which  were  and  could  before  1898 
be  taken  to  enlist  only  the  very  best  material  for  our 
service.  This  was  done  at  a  time  when  business  was 
dull  and  applications  for  enlistments  were  very  numer- 
ous. Further  than  this,  the  introduction  of  the  gym- 
nasium, with  its  athletic  sports,  advantages  incident  to 
the  canteen  system  and  the  esprit  de  corps  which  existed 
throughout  all  the  regiments  of  our  old  Regular  Army 
aided  the  officers  materially,  but  it  is  to  be  apprehended 
that  the  old  standard  cannot  be  revived  for  many  years 
to  come. 

Other  considerations  are  operative.  Men  are  always 
influenced  by  mercenary  motives,  and  in  seeking 
service  of  any  kind  (either  in  or  out  of  the  Army)  will 
avoid  that  which  is  the  most  difficult  for  the  compensa- 
tion paid.  The  nature  of  the  work  to  be  done  de- 
termines the  grade  or  character  of  the  man  for  the 
job,  and  a  sudden  expansion,  nearly  fourfold,  of  our 
Regular  Army  must  certainly  lower  its  tone  and  morale 
through  the  medium  of  indifferent  material.  An  in- 
crease in  the  rank  and  file  is  also  accompanied  by  a 
large  addition  of  commissioned  officers,  many  of 


166  WEST  POINT 

whom,  it  is  to  be  feared,  are  as  untrained  as  officers  as 
the  new  blood  in  the  ranks.  Let  it  not  be  understood 
that  this  is  said  in  disparagement  of  officers  of  the  volun- 
teers now  coming  into  our  regular  establishment.  What 
is  simply  meant  is  that  hasty  methods  of  recruiting  in  the 
grades  of  commissioned  office  are  fraught  with  the  same 
risks  as  hasty  methods  of  recruiting  for  the  ranks.  We 
are  indeed  an  improvident  people  as  relates  to  things 
military,  and  there  is  good  ground  for  the  apprehen- 
sion that  our  regular  establishment  may  degenerate 
somewhat  under  the  stern  principle  of  necessity  which 
will  be  operative  for  some  years  to  come. 

We  all  know  that  no  man  who  is  undisciplined  can 
be  classed  as  a  soldier,  be  he  regular  or  volunteer;  and 
alter  all,  what  are  these  distinctions,  "  regular "  and 
"  volunteer,"  as  applied  to  the  rank  and  file?  Are  not 
all  soldiers  in  this  country  volunteers  in  the  strict  sense 
of  the  word?  Does  not  the  regular's  term  of  enlistment 
expire  after  three  years,  and  is  he  not  free  to  quit  the 
service  or  to  re-enlist  either  in  his  own  or  in  any  other 
organization  that  he  may  prefer?  And  herein  lies 
a  serious  menace.  Old  soldiers  will  not  "  take  on 
again,"  should  they  find  the  Army  degenerating  or  not 
up  to  the  old  standard,  and  although  "  an  old  soldier 
may  have  all  the  weaknesses  of  human  nature,  he  has 
nevertheless  thoroughly  learned  the  lesson  of  obedience, 
and  is  worth  a  dozen  recruits." 

Thomas  Carlyle  says  that  "  the  courage  that  enables 
a  man  to  stand  up  and  be  shot  at  has  not  been  denied 
to  any  man  or  woman,"  and  as  proof  of  this  he  goes 
on  to  say: 


READINESS   FOR  WAR  167 

"  Do  not  recruiting  sergeants  drive  through  the 
streets  of  manufacturing  towns  and  collect  ragged  losels 
enough,  every  one  of  whom,  if  dressed  up  in  red  and 
trained  a  little,  will  receive  fire  cheerfully  for  the  small 
sum  of  one  shilling  per  diem  and  have  the  soul  blown 
out  of  him  at  last  with  perfect  propriety? 

''  Sergeant  What's-His-Name  literally  licks  these  lo- 
sels into  shape  by  a  course  of  training  compared  to 
which  that  of  the  undergraduate  is  easy  and  even  short." 

Major  Chester,  U.  S.  A.,  further  tells  us  that  the 
power  of  discipline  is  difficult  to  explain  —  "  that  no 
man  faces  deadly  peril  without  fear.  The  soldier  en- 
tering on  his  first  battle,  and  I  believe  entering  upon 
every  battle,  feels  this  instinct  strong  upon  him.  He 
thinks  he  is  the  only  man  in  the  company  who  feels 
that  way,  and  he  is  in  mortal  terror  that  he  will  be 
found  out.  And  so  he  suppresses  the  instinct  and  will 
do  anything,  however  daring  or  even  reckless,  at  com- 
mand." 

We  all  know  something  about  "  fear,"  and  our  best 
endeavors  are  to  get  along  with  as  little  of  it  as  we  can. 
We  have  pretty  fair  ideas  on  the  subject  of  heat;  all  of 
us  have  more  or  less  of  that,  but  it  is  only  when  we  ar- 
rive at  "  absolute  zero  "  that  we  are  satisfied  it's  all 
frozen  out  and  then  we  call  this  freeze-out,  cold. 

But  "  absolute  zero  "  is  a  theoretical  standard  never 
attained  —  so,  practically  speaking,  there  is  no  cold  — 
in  like  manner  we  can  with  perfect  propriety  say,  and 
this  in  spite  of  holdings  to  the  contrary,  that  there  is  no 
courage. 

At  this  juncture  "  Life  "  steps  in  and  says,  and  even 


168  WEST  POINT 

with  him  this  is  but  a  late  discovery  that  fear  is  of  two 
kinds  —  mark  the  distinction.  "  There  is  the  fear  of 
death,  and  he  who  has  it  is  a  coward,  and  then  there  is 
the  fear  of  being  thought  a  coward,  and  he  who  has  this 
fear  is  a  hero." 

"  The  conservation  of  discipline  means  the  life  and 
usefulness  of  the  Army,"  and  this  discipline  it  is  which 
is  accorded  the  United  States  Corps  of  Cadets  and 
which  shapes  the  actions  of  boys  though  but  a  short 
time  removed  from  the  influence  of  home. 

We  are  inclined  to  believe  that  it  was  a  most  for- 
tunate thing  for  the  reputation  at  least  of  our  Regular 
Army  that  what  was  known  as  the  Hull  bill  did  not 
become  a  law  in  the  early  days  of  the  Spanish-American 
War.  ' 

A  sudden  fourfold  increase,  as  proposed  by  that  meas- 
ure for  the  regular  military  establishment,  would  have 
so  reorganized  —  let  us  say,  disorganized  —  the  whole 
that  the  fifteen  thousand  men  at  first  sent  to  Cuba  (re- 
stricted to  this  figure  by  lack  of  transportation)  would 
in  that  case  have  been  of  a  kind  never  to  have  returned 
from  Santiago  to  tell  the  story  of  a  disaster  which  in- 
evitably would  have  overtaken  them.  Indeed  it  is  well 
understood  that  but  for  the  exceptional  physical  condi- 
tion —  "  superb  condition  and  training  "  —  of  the  little 
band  of  regulars  they  never  could  have  carried  through 
that  bitter  campaign.  It  is  well  to  ponder  upon  these 
things,  to  profit  by  such  experiences,  and  never  again 
to  allow  ourselves  to  be  so  misled  as  the  American  peo- 
ple ever  have  been  in  regard  to  our  military  resources. 

The  effective  opposition  to  the  passage  of  the  Hull 


READINESS  FOR  WAR  169 

bill  (which  opposition  seemed  at  the  time  to  conflict 
with  the  interest  of  the  Regular  Army  and  of  the 
country  itself)  has  then  had  everything  to  do  in  the 
preservation  of  our  miniature  Regular  Army  by  thus 
allowing  it  to  go  into  action  in  concrete  shape.  Per- 
haps no  circumstance  in  the  whole  history  of  the  late 
war  had  such  a  determining  influence  as  this  prohibition, 
this  defeat  of  a  measure  for  the  increase  of  our  regular 
establishment  in  the  face  of  the  enemy. 

The  reputation  of  our  little  band  of  regulars  has  here 
once  again  been  well  sustained  by  the  good  dame, 
"  Fortune,"  and  in  the  words  of  the  immortal  poet: 

"  Now  is  the  winter  of  our  discontent 
Made  glorious  summer  by  this  sun  of  York; 
And  all  the  clouds  that  loured  upon  our  house 
In  the  deep  bosom  of  the  ocean  buried." 

Let  us  now  follow  George  Tucker  Bispham  on  the 
subject  of  readiness  for  war: 

"  We  passed  through  a  tremendous  struggle  in  1861- 
1865.  We  committed  the  faults  of  undertaking  grave 
enterprises  with  inadequate  means;  of  rejecting  the  ad- 
vice of  military  men  upon  military  matters,  and  acting 
in  such  matters  upon  the  opinions  of  civilians:  of  ap- 
pointing lawyers  and  politicians  to  the  command  of 
armies;  of  expecting  the  performance  of  impossibilities; 
of  wondering  why  campaigns,  whose  success  demanded 
a  year's  hard  marching  and  harder  fighting,  were  not 
successfully  finished,  offhand,  in  a  month  or  so;  and 
of  blaming  the  Executive,  and  particularly  the  War  De- 
partment for  things  for  which  we  —  the  American  peo- 
ple ourselves  —  were  alone  responsible.  Well,  all  these 


170  WEST  POINT 

faults,  and  others  beside  them,  were  committed  during 
the  great  war;  and  when  the  war  was  drawing  to  a  close 
we  saw  our  shortcomings  and  resolved  upon  amending 
our  ways.  Never  again  would  we  be  caught  with  in- 
adequate supplies  of  arms  and  inadequate  means  for 
raising,  mobilizing,  equipping,  and  supplying  large  ar- 
mies; never  again  would  we  ignore  the  advice  of  mili- 
tary men  on  military  subjects;  no  more  should  Execu- 
tive action  be  hampered  or  rendered  impossible  by 
legislative  inaction ;  and  no  longer  would  the  shortcom- 
ings of  the  people  themselves  be  laden  upon  the  back 
of  some  unhappy  scapegoat  of  a  military  bureau  or  army 
department.  No;  all  would  be  changed.  We  would 
reform.  In  the  summer  of  1865  it  was  resolved  by  every 
right-minded  citizen  that  thereafter,  if  the  game  of  war 
had  ever  to  be  played  again,  the  players  on  our  side 
should  be  well  selected  and  should  be  equipped  with 
everything  that  professional  skill  decided  they  ought  to 
have. 

"Alas,  for  our  good  intentions!  They  served  but  as 
so  many  paving  stones  on  the  downward  path  of  hu- 
miliation and  dissatisfaction.  Another  war  broke  out. 
It  was  far  less  momentous,  far  less  prolonged,  far  less 
bloody,  and  far  less  destructive  to  us  than  the  tremen- 
dous contest  of  1861;  and  yet  the  outbreak  of  a  war 
with  a  weak  Power  found  us  unprepared  with  a  proper 
system  for  increasing  our  Army,  unprovided  with  an 
adequate  supply  of  modern  arms,  and  above  all,  and 
worst  of  all,  unprepared  to  assume  the  blame  of  these 
deficiencies,  and  ready  only  to  fasten,  blindly  and  ig- 
norantly,  upon  some  man  or  set  of  men,  the  censure 


READINESS  FOR  WAR  171 

which  we  ourselves  should  have  borne.  Cicero  said 
frankly,  when  the  republic  seemed  to  be  in  danger, 
'  Nos  —  nos  dico  aperte  —  nos  consules  desumus.'  We 
Americans  should  be  prepared  to  say,  with  the  same 
frankness  and  with  greater  truth,  '  We  —  we,  the  peo- 
ple —  we  say  it  openly  —  we,  the  people,  are  wanting/ 
*  *  * 

"  To  come  back,  then,  what  lesson  is  to  be  learned 
from  the  experience  of  the  Spanish  War?  It  is  simply 
this:  When  you  employ  professional  men  to  do  pro- 
fessional work,  give  them  what  they  ask  for  in  the  way 
of  tools  and  material  as  far  as  you  can;  and  if  you  have 
confidence  in  their  ability  and  honesty,  act  on  their  ad- 
vice. When  a  lawyer  hands  his  client  a  subpoena,  with 
instructions  to  serve  it  on  Monday  upon  the  witness 
therein  named,  but  the  client  fails  to  serve  it  at  all  or 
serves  it  on  Tuesday  or  Wednesday,  he  cannot  blame 
his  counsel  if  the  cause  is  lost  because  of  the  absence 
or  lateness  of  witness.  When  a  man  is  threatened  with 
a  disease  whose  attacks  may  be  sudden  and  violent,  and 
is  told  by  his  physician  whom  he  consults  that  he  should 
have  a  certain  medicine  always  in  the  house  ready  for 
the  emergency,  but  fails  to  send  to  the  apothecary's  for 
the  prescribed  drug,  it  is  a  hard  measure  of  justice  to 
blame  the  physician  if  the  patient,  owing  to  a  sudden 
attack  of  the  malady,  is  subject  to  exquisite  pain  or 
has  a  narrow  escape  from  death.  And  so,  if  the  people 
or  their  representatives  are  warned  by  their  professional 
military  advisers  that  such  and  such  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion ought  to  be  in  '  stock,'  but  choose  to  neglect  the 


172  WEST  POINT 

warning,  they  must  assume  themselves  the  blame  for 
the  loss  of  life  and  suffering  sustained  by  some  of  their 
number,  and  cannot  transfer  the  burden  to  the  shoulders 
of  the  men  whose  advice  they  have  not  heeded." 

The  Sixth  Infantry  at  Santiago  is  not  the  Sixth  In- 
fantry at  Manila,  nor  can  we  say  that  Duncan's  battery 
of  the  Mexican  War,  and  later  Tidball's  Battery  of  the 
Civil  War,  was  the  same  in  aught  but  name  with  that 
of  Parkhurst's  battery  of  the  Spanish-American  War. 
See  what  the  captain  of  this  battery  has  to  say  on  the 
unprepared  condition  of  this  battery  due  to  its  sudden 
expansion: 

"  The  march  from  (B  or  D)  Daiquiri  to  Seville  was 
anything  but  a  picnic.  The  batteries  were  loaded  down 
with  their  full  complement  of  ammunition,  three  days' 
rations,  and  with  all  the  hay  and  grain  that  could  be 
loaded  upon  the  ammunition  chests.  The  roads  were 
simply  vile  —  narrow,  uneven,  with  sharp  turns  and 
pitches,  full  of  rocks  and  chuck  holes,  and  last,  but  not 
least,  full  of  men;  it  was  now  that  the  bad  effect  of 
green  horses  and  green  drivers  began  to  be  felt,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  leg-weary  condition  of  all  of  the  stock 
from  its  confinement  upon  shipboard,  to  overcome 

which  there  had  not  as  yet  been  sufficient  time  to  rest. 
*  *  * 

"  How  well  or  how  ill  this  march  might  have  been 
performed  with  thoroughly-trained  horses  and  drivers 
will  never  be  known.  It  is  well  known  however  that 
in  many  cases  the  green  horses  and  green  men  were 


READINESS  FOR  WAR  173 

worse  than  useless,  they  were  actually  an  incumbrance. 
One  pair  of  awkward  green  horses  in  a  team  of  six  would 
often  balk  and  render  useless  all  the  energy  and  effort 
of  the  other  trained  four;  often  the  green  horses  had 
to  be  taken  out  and  their  places  supplied  by  some  of  the 
old  horses  from  other  teams  before  the  carriage  or 
caisson  could  be  budged  from  the  chuck  hole,  or  be 
pulled  up  a  steep  incline.  This  caused  not  only  delay, 
but  also  made  double  work  for  many  of  the  old  horses; 
all  of  these  set-backs  were  well  understood  and  taken 
as  a  matter  of  course  by  all  of  the  artillery,  but  were 
apparently  little  understood  or  appreciated  by  any  one 
else.  *  *  * 

'  The  stock  was  suffering  from  the  heat  and  oppres- 
sion of  an  unusual  atmosphere  even  more  than  the  men. 
They  were  watered  whenever  and  wherever  practicable; 
at  times  eight  and  even  ten  horses  had  to  be  coupled  up 
to  get  the  carriages  through;  hence  the  march,  though 
short  in  actual  distance  traveled,  was  very  hard  upon 
both  horses  and  men. 

"  Unlike  the  universally  accepted  idea,  as  believed 
by  those  not  in  the  light  artillery,  and  as  pictured  forth 
in  the  many  beautiful  but  fictitious  representations  of 
light  artillery,  the  men  (cannoneers)  marched  on  foot, 
each  carrying  his  little  (?)  blanket-roll  and  rations  the 
same  as  any  '  dough  boy.'  There  was  no  thought  of 
such  a  thing  as  these  cannoneers  sitting  up,  upon  the 
limber  chests,  with  arms  folded  and  taking  it  easy, 
while  the  rest  of  the  troops  plodded  through  the  mud. 


174  WEST  POINT 

Each  and  every  cannoneer  had  to  march  as  I  have  said, 
and,  besides  this,  they  had  to  tug  and  strain,  use  pick 
and  shovel  or  other  tools,  fixing  '  chuck  holes  '  in  the 
road,  and  helping  stalled  teams,  etc.,  working,  as  well 
as  marching,  to  get  everything  through  as  soon  as 
possible. 

Another  light  artillery  officer  also  states: 
"  The  campaign  at  Santiago  has  made  clear  the  value 
of  practice  marches  for  light  artillery  when  the  organ- 
izations are  on  a  peace  footing.  To  pass  however  from 
this  condition  to  a  war  footing  when  engaged  in  active 
operations  in  the  field  leaves  scant  opportunity  for  the 
instruction  of  recruits  and  the  training  of  new  horses; 
and  every  artillerist  now  knows,  better  even  than  before, 
how  urgent  is  the  necessity  for  maintaining  our  light  bat- 
teries permanently  on  a  war  footing" 

Col.  Chas.  Larned,  Professor  at  the  Military  Acad- 
emy, pointedly  refers  to  the  kind  or  degree  of  prepared- 
ness to  be  adopted  for  future  wars.  The  determinative 
factors  will  be:  The  development  of  individuality  and 
self-reliance  in  the  soldier;  expert  marksmanship  in  in- 
fantry fire  and  every  man  a  sharpshooter;  expert  marks- 
manship in  artillery  fire;  mobility  in  large  bodies  of 
troops  of  the  nature  of  mounted  infantry,  and,  incident 
thereto,  a  highly  condensed  ration;  the  abandonment  of 
nearly  all  close  formations  and  manoeuvres  on  the  tacti- 
cal field,  as  well  as  all  drill  and  parade  exercises  of  the 
old  wooden  order  tending  to  automatic  habits  and 
ideas;  a  field  uniform  designed  solely  with  reference 
to  service,  and  a  peace  uniform  simple,  neat,  and  com- 


READINESS  FOR  WAR  175 

fortable,  extravagant  neither  in  color  nor  insignia,  which 
shall  designate  rank  and  service  corps  distinctly,  instead 
of  a  style  of  raiment  which  in  this  land  should  be  con- 
fined to  the  circus;  and  if  practicable,  some  form  of  in- 
dividual protection  from  infantry  fire. 

The  Colonel  declares  that  the  new  soldier  should  be 
made  intelligent,  active,  skillful  with  his  weapon  and  self- 
reliant,  and  that  all  manoeuvre  formations  for  garrison 
or  marching  purposes  should  be  elastic  and  natural.  He 
advises  that  the  manual  of  arms  shall  be  reduced  to  a 
few  simple  movements  and  the  work  of  military  exer- 
cises directed  to  perfecting  the  intelligence  and  marks- 
manship of  the  individual.  He  holds  that  the  time 
spent  in  marching  and  countermarching,  in  perfecting 
an  elaborate  manual  of  arms  and  constrained  mechan- 
ical movements  is  even  worse  than  wasted,  since  it  tends 
to  make  stiff,  unthinking,  blind,  and  dull  soldiers,  and 
takes  valuable  time  needed  for  instruction  in  their 
active  duties  as  fighters. 

Now  it  is  well  understood  that  for  a  long  time  past 
this  subject  has  been  much  talked  of  by  thinking  men, 
who  were  not  too  much  "  strapped  and  buttoned/'  and 
among  this  number  it  appears  the  senior  professor  at 
the  United  States  Military  Academy  will  be  found. 

Great  changes  have  been  going  on  from  the  lordly 
battle  days  of  "  Gentlemen  of  the  guard,  fire  first,"  down 
to  the  grim,  earnest  warfare  of  South  Africa. 

What  kind  of  men  are  to  fight  modern  battles?  What 
sort  of  exercise  will  best  fit  them  for  their  work?  How 
far  does  mere  soldierly  drill  go  towards  securing  gen- 


176  WEST  POINT 

eral  readiness  for  warfare  and  how  far  towards  prepara- 
tion for  the  important  details  of  the  service? 

It  seems  to  the  writer  that  while  it  is  essential  in  the 
larger  question  of  preparation,  it  is  vital,  exhaustive,  and 
paramount  in  the  smaller  one. 

"  C'est  magnifique  mais  ce  n'est  pas  la  guerre  "  was  the 
remark  of  General  Pierre  Bosquet  and  yet  not  one  of 
the  Six  Hundred  spent  his  life  in  vain.  People  get  out 
of  the  way  of  the  English  cavalry  when  they  think  of 
Balaklava.  The  thing  does  not  happen  more  than  once 
in  a  century.  Apart  from  glory  the  expenditure  of  life  on 
the  25th  October,  1854,  was  a  sound  economy  and,  blun- 
der or  no,  it  was  la  guerre. 

And  once  again,  what  of  old  John  Rodgers  putting 
to  sea  in  a  wild  southeast  gale,  full  grown  and  out  for 
business,  to  see  if  that  new-fangled  cheese-box  on  a 
"  raft,"  as  they  used  to  say,  would  "  stand  it?  "  If  so,  a 
new  departure;  a  fresh  page  of  history.  If  not,  his  life 
and  those  of  a  whole  man-of-war's  crew  would  be  well 
bestowed  in  settling  this  question  of  first-rate  warfare. 

Soult  refused  to  move  when  ordered,  because  he  saw, 
what  the  emperor  could  not  see  —  that  the  time  had 
not  come.  His  insubordination  won  the  battle  of  Aus- 
terlitz  and  his  fame  is  immortal. 

Fitz  John  Porter's  insubordination,  and  what  did  it 
cost  him?  God's  mill  ground  out  the  justice  he  craved 
for,  but  only  after  long  years  of  waiting,  long  years  of 
suffering. 

Then  stepped  forward  that  generous-spirited  man, 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  and  said:  "  Before  this  I  was  mis- 


READINESS  FOR  WAR  177 

taken,  to-day  I  see  that  Fitz  John  Porter  in  the  exercise 
of  his  discretionary  powers  as  Corps  Commander,  saved 
the  Union  Army  from  defeat/'  These  are  his  words 
paraphrased  if  not  exactly  stated.  Their  value  should 
be  measured  by  this  standard:  When  McClernand  tele- 
graphed Grant  to  the  effect,  "  Do  you  know  that  if  I 
advance,  my  division  will  be  annihilated?  "  Here  was 
the  laconic  reply,  and  from  the  very  man  who  in  later 
years  justified  Porter's  disobedience:  "  I  am  glad  you 
understand  your  orders."  Now  in  this  case  McClernand 
was  distinctly  right,  and  Grant  in  no  wise  wrong;  there 
was  time  for  an  explanation  and  adjustment  of  responsi- 
bility, but  Grant  should  not,  we  think,  have  so  severely 
rebuked  his  division  commander. 

Picton  in  the  Peninsula  bitterly  damned  the  officer 
who  brought  the  order  a  third  time.  "  What,  what, 
what!  "  said  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  when  this  was  re- 
ported to  him.  "  Did  Picton  damn  ye!  Well,  I  daresay 
he's  quite  right,  but  he  might  be  civil  about  it."  Picton 
staked  his  head  for  glory  and  he  won. 

Changes  may  be  wrought  from  hour  to  hour  in  the 
details  of  preparation  for  great  episodes  —  but  the  un- 
derlying principles  which  govern  armies  and  carry  them 
on  to  victory  must  ever  remain  the  same. 

More  now  than  ever  before  must  the  individual  be 
trained  and  schooled  in  the  science  and  art  of  war,  and 
never  before  in  the  control  of  armies  has  the  need  of 
discipline  been  so  manifest.  Without  it  much,  of  course, 
may  be  accomplished  with  skilled  and  self-reliant  horse- 
men and  expert  marksmen,  but  something  more  is 
12 


178  WEST  POINT 

needed  in  the  soldier  than  that  which  comes  to  him  by 
nature. 

Seconds  in  command,  as  is  here  shown,  have  taken 
the  lead,  and  led  on  to  victory  amidst  the  plaudits  of 
mankind,  plaudits  for  a  double  risk;  but  how  intolerable 
is  this  where  defeat  waits  on  the  venture.  A  question  of 
late  has  been  raised  against  our  Army  —  its  lack  of  dis- 
cipline. But  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States  at  San- 
tiago, let  this  be  said:  Soldiers  of  all  organizations 
without  regard  to  regiments  or  companies  obeyed  with 
alacrity  and  precision  the  orders  of  any  officer  into  whose 
presence  they  were  thrown.  This  detail  is  noted  as  evi- 
dence of  the  highest  order  of  discipline  and  the  officers 
of  our  Army  who  were  present  on  that  field  revert  to  it 
again  and  again,  writh  pride  and  satisfaction. 

The  writer  has  been  asked,  Has  the  Regular  Army  of 
the  United  States  ever  lost  its  reputation?  this  query 
being  suggested  by  a  remark  that  "  its  reputation  has 
once  again  been  saved."  Never  has  its  reputation  been 
lost,  but  certainly  conditions  are  such  that  the  reputa- 
tions of  general  officers  and  old  organizations  of  either 
the  National  Guard  or  Regular  Army  are  always  in 
jeopardy  and  for  the  following  reasons: 

"  Tt  is  undeniable  that  the  new  Army  is  not  as  effective 
a  fighting  machine  as  was  the  old  Army  that  was  mobil- 
ized in  Tampa  in  1898  for  the  Santiago  campaign. 
There  are  many  reasons  why  this  falling  off  in  morale 
and  effectiveness  should  have  taken  place.  Fortunately 
this  can  be  remedied. 


READINESS  FOR  WAR  179 

"  In  enlarging  the  Army  it  has  been  found  necessary 
to  let  down  the  bars  as  to  physique  and  character  to 
some  extent.  I  don't  mean*  that  there  is  any  lack  of 
the  same  sort  of  men  that  carried  our  flag  triumphantly 
through  the  Santiago  campaign  —  there  are  plenty  of 
them  —  but  you  can't  get  them  at  short  notice." 

We  may  indeed  perfect  in  time  of  peace  a  small  mili- 
tary establishment,  and  if  it  can  be  kept  well  in  hand 
and  is  employed  as  a  whole,  achievements  like  those  at 
Santiago  will  result.  But  even  in  this  case  where  the 
Regular  Army  had  its  best  fighting  chance  —  perhaps 
the  best  that  has  ever  offered  —  almost  fifty  per  cent, 
of  its  commissioned  officers  had  already  been  called 
away  to  serve  with  the  volunteers,  tempted  by  offers  of 
higher  rank  than  that  held  by  them  in  the  regular  estab- 
lishment, so  that  many  of  the  companies  went  into 
action  at  Santiago  with  not  more  than  one  officer  on 
the  average  to  a  company.  The  condition,  training, 
and  discipline  of  the  rank  and  file  did  nowhere  atone  for 
this  deficiency;  a  deficiency  which  was  unfortunately  on 
the  increase  throughout  the  contests  in  consequence  of 
the  heavy  losses  in  the  commissioned  grade. 

The  old  regiments  reached  Santiago  de  Cuba  muster- 
ing about  six  hundred  men  each,  and  of  these  some 
thirty  per  cent,  were  recruits.  When  they  returned  to 
Montauk  Point  they  did  not  average  two  hundred  men 
to  a  regiment,  and  even  these  were  sick,  diseased,  and 
otherwise  disqualified  for  duty. 

*  Here  we  are  quoting  Stephen  Bonsai. 


180  WEST  POINT 

A  short  time  thereafter  these  same  organizations  were 
recruited  up  to  a  strength  of  twelve  hundred  men,  under 
the  three  battalion  system,  and  hastily  sent  to  the 
Philippines  with  but  a  limited  complement  of  officers; 
many  being  new  appointees.  The  only  training 
these  men  had  before  their  arrival  at  Manila  was 
on  shipboard,  and  in  transit.  It  cannot  therefore  be 
wondered  at  that  regular  regiments  which  had  so  dis- 
tinguished themselves  at  Santiago  suffered  in  point  of 
reputation  by  comparison  with  the  well-seasoned  volun- 
teers in  the  Philippines. 


CHAPTER  XI 
WEST  POINT  LIFE 

(In  its  Half-Century.) 

The  writer  finds  in  his  scrap-book  one  of  the  few 
remaining  copies  of  a  poem  read  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Dialectic  Society  at  West  Point  in  1859.  The  render- 
ing of  this  by  Cadet  Garnett  ("  Jack  "),  the  best  reader 
in  the  corps,  was  quite  effective,  and  it  made  such  a 
"  hit "  that  the  secretary  of  the  society  was  induced  to 
have  a  few  copies  printed.  It  was  attributed  to  a 
cadet  of  the  class  of  1860,  though  he  would  not  father 
it.  It  was  a  very  common  occurrence  for  the  members 
of  the  corps  to  gather  around  the  tent  of  this  cadet  to 
listen  to  his  extemporized  verses  and  songs,  but  always 
with  the  distinct  understanding  that  no  note  would  be 
taken  of  anything  we  heard;  and  therefore  it  was  but 
natural  that  the  following  lines  should  have  been  attrib- 
uted to  this  cadet,  who  later  became  a  distinguished 
general  officer: 

WEST  POINT  LIFE. 

WEST  POINT  LIFE,  I  said,  should  be  the  subject  of  this  strain; 
Thinking  on  the  matter  long,  I  strained  my  brain  in  vain. 
I  reflected,  called  on  some  accommodating  Muse, 
Mused  in  vain,  and  found  them  all  determined  to  refuse; 
Chose  a  noble  patron  then,  and  made  another  move, 
Knew  our  worthy  President  would  a  Maecenas  prove, 
Do  not  criticise;  you  see  this  sheet  looks  now  aghast 
At  the  array  of  beauty  where  to-night  the  "  '  Di.'  is  cast." 

181 


182  WEST  POINT 

You're,  at  first,  a  "  cit,"  you  sport  a  hat  and  standing  collar, 

Seek  along  the  paths  of  peace  the  bright,  almighty  dollar; 

Think  you're  free,  but  find  you  have  a  "  governor  "  absurd, 

Though  you  are  a  citizen,  you're  subject  to  his  word. 

Suddenly  you  feel  a  passion  rising  in  your  soul, 

A  military  ardor  which  no  one  can  control. 

You  hear  of  West  Point  School,  where  they  turn  great  warriors  out, 

Still  you  stop  and  hesitate,  on  this  Point  there's  a  doubt. 

When  you  doze  in  bed  that  night,  you  mutter,  prate,  and  prattle, 

Think  you  hear  a  uniform,  see  drums,  and  wear  a  battle; 

Dream  of  bullet  buttons,  plumes,  of  ladies'  smiles  and  fun, 

Waking  in  the  morning,  you  are  off  to  Washington. 

With  nine  hundred  others  on  the  President  you  charge; 

Seeing  this  vast  number  they  say  you  apply  "  at  large." 

Now  you  show  you've  many  claims  and  can't  be  called  a  meddler, 

Prove  your  great  grandfather  once,  in  England,  whipped  a  peddler. 

Your  father  lived  to  eighty-five,  like  many  other  men, 

But  having  lost  his  parents,  was  a  helpless  orphan  then. 

Your  great-great-great-grandfather  died  in  battle,  that's  the  truth; 

Your  great-great-great-grandmother  lived  ten  years  without  a  tooth. 

With  many  others  back  you  come,  with  glory  unanointed, 

The  President  appoints  but  ten,  the  rest  are  dis-appointed. 

You  next  go  to  your  congressman,  who's  honest,  true,  and  just; 
He  finds  you'll  pass;  'tis  all  he  wants;  you'll  not  disgrace  his  trust. 
Thinking  on  your  future  life,  you  find  your  speculations 
Interrupted  by  a  mighty  list  of  qualifications; 
You  get  a  pen  to  see  if  you  remember  how  to  write; 
A  splinter's  in  your  thumb;  you  may  not  be  pronounced  all  right; 
You  have  some  corns,  and  fear  with  them  rejection  you  may  meet, 
For  many  active  soldiers  have  been  "  found  "*  upon  their  feet. 
How  careful  and  how  studious  we  find  the  young  expectant, 
For  fear  this  rigid  Board  will  find  a  true  bill  of  ejectment; 
Yet  soon  you  see  kind  sympathy  is  in  their  bosoms  stored, 
And  find  the  proverb  true,  that  "  There's  a  soft  side  to  a  board." 
*  Found  deficient. 


WEST  POINT  LIFE  183 

When  landed  on  the  Point,  you  ask  a  man  where  you'll  report, 
And,  ten  to  one,  you'll  get  from  him  a  withering  retort; 
He'll  say,  "  Subordination,  Plebe,  of  discipline's  the  root; 
Now  you've  addressed  an  old  Cadet,  forgetting  to  salute." 
He  sends  you  to  a  room,  and  says,  "  Report  and  then  come  back." 
You  enter,  and  discover  there  none  but  the  old  shoeblack; 
Your  father's  with  you  all  the  time  —  he  here  begins  to  croak  — 
And,  judging  from  his  countenance,  he  doesn't  like  the  joke. 
You  wander  like  Telemachus  —  at  last  you  find  the  place, 
And  see  the  dread  Instructor;  Yes!  you  meet  him  face  to  face; 
He  cries,  "  Now  stand,  attention;  put  your  hands  close  by  your 

pants, 

And  stand  erect,  hold  up  your  head.     There!  steady!  don't  advance! 
Turn  your  toes  still  farther  out,  and  look  straight  to  the  front, 
Draw  in  your  chin,  throw  out  your  chest.     There!  steady!  don't 

you  grunt;  " 

You  hold  your  head  so  high  that  the  instructor's  lost  to  view, 
And  looking  at  your  father,  there  he  "  stands  attention,"  too. 
Says  th'  instructor,  "  Where's  my  pen?  This  old  one  does  not 

suit  me." 

"  There  it  is,  sir."     "  Hold  your  tongue!  you  must  not  talk  on  duty. 
I'm  not  surprised  to  see  you  quail,  and  flutter  like  a  partridge, 
But  soldiers'  mouths  must  open  only  when  they  tear  a  cartridge!  " 
He  asks  you  if  you've  brought  along  the  articles  marked  thus  (*), 
And  when  he  finds  you  haven't,  raises  quite  a  little  fuss. 
He  wants  to  know  all  things  you've  brought,  your  clothes  of  every 

kind, 

You  think  the  gentleman's  endowed  with  an  inquiring  mind. 
You  get  a  broom,  some  matches,  and  a  bed  made  up  of  patches, 
Though   little  did  you  think  such  schools  could  ever  have  their 

matches; 
You  know  where   "  matches  all  are  made,"  and  give  a  knowing 

sneer  — 

From  what  you've  seen,  you  think  that  place  is  very  far  from  here. 
A  comforter  you  also  get,  the  thing  that  most  you  need; 
A  comforter!!     It's  one  of  Job's  —  a  sorry  one  indeed. 


184  WEST  POINT 

"  On  your  return,  report  yourself,"  they  earnestly  exhort  you. 
Report  yourself!!!  when  twenty  men  are  eager  to  report  you! 
You're  now  assigned  to  quarters  —  there  deposit  bed  and  broom, 
And  though  in  want  of  shelter,  wish  for  you  there  was  no  room. 
Are  these  the  luxuries  on  which  our  senators  agree? 
You  do  not  fancy  this  "  hot-bed  of  aristocracy." 

The  drill-drum  beats,  so  does  your  heart,  and  down  the  stairs  you 

scud; 

You  slip  before  you  reach  the  ranks,  fall  full  length  in  the  mud. 
Here  you  have  met  your  first  reverse,  and  give  a  ghastly  grin; 
You  think  your  district  now  could  say,  "  Our  candidate's  got  in." 
All  over  mud,  you  now  demand  a  suit  in  your  distress, 
But  find  for  all  such  slight  mishaps  they  give  you  no  re-dress. 
How  strange  you  think  it  when,  next  night,  reported  you  have  been, 
In  spite  of  all  your  efforts,  for  neglecting  to  "  fall  in." 
The  food,  you  say,  is  scanty,  and  you  do  not  like  the  stuff; 
Though   there's  a  hen    for  each   of  you,    you  never   get    un    ceu 

(enough). 

A  graduating  man  sees  you;  some  sidelong  glances  throws; 
Thinks  he  would  like  to  trade  his  mattress  for  your  suit  of  clothes. 
He  says,  when  coming  up  to  you,  all  buttoned  to  the  throat, 
"  Has  any  one  said  anything  to  you  about  your  coat?  " 
Mistaking  him,  you  say,  "  Some  old  Cadets,  whose  jokes  were  stale, 
Cried  after  me,  when  passing  by,  '  Just  see  that  Shanghai  tail ! ' ' 
At  last  you  get  the  mattress,  and  remove  it  with  hard  tugs; 
Republicans  are  right  who  say  that  here  you  find  big  bugs. 

While  reading  in  your  room,  absorbed  in  prison  discipline, 

You  suddenly  hear  some  one  knock  —  jump  up,  and  cry  —  "Come 

in." 

You  find  your  dread  instructor  is  already  in  the  door; 
He  says,  "  Did  you  give  that  command  to  your  superior?  " 
You  ask  to  be  forgiven;  say  you'll  never  do  so  more; 
You  didn't  yet  know  all  the  "  rules  and  articles  of  war." 


WEST  POINT   LIFE  185 

Next  day  they  march  you  into  camp.     How  pretty  it  does  look! 
That  you  fare  the  better,  you  have  brought  a  cookery  book; 
You  get  in  camp;  an  old  cadet  cries,  "  Come,  put  up  this  tent!" 
And  with  the  aid  he  renders  you,  you're  very  well  content. 
You  thank  him,  take  possession;  when  you  find  that  all  is  done, 
He  coolly  tells  you,  "  Plebe,  it's  mine;  go  get  some  other  one; 
What    you    have    done   is    only   play;     Plebes    must   make   some 

mistakes." 

Foul  play,  you  think  it  is,  in  which  you've  put  up  all  the  stakes. 
To  hoist  another  for  yourself  your  efforts  now  are  bent, 
On  studying  the  art  of  war  you  find  yourself  in-tent. 
You've  brought  some  dozen  suits  of  clothes,  but  give  a  solemn 

look, 

To  find  the  space  assigned  to  them  is  but  a  cubic  foot. 
Never  mind,  you'll  soon  be  great;  take  Cuba,  end  your  trials; 
Then,  instead  of  cubic  feet,  you'll  have  some  Cubic  miles. 

Now  come  drills,  those  long  squad  drills,  upon  the  scorching  plain; 
Like  people  in  the  desert  wilds,  your  only  hope  is  rain. 
Sand  gets  in  your  shoes,  and  rubs  and  burns  like  lighted  candles; 
Wonder  why  the  people  in  such  soil  do  not  wear  sandals. 
Though  drums  disturb  you  every  hour,  you  utter  not  a  word, 
But  think  how  happy  Sir  John  Moore  when  "  Not  a  drum  was 
heard." 

You  probably  are  six  feet  high;  some  officer  you  dread 

Arrests  you  at  the  break  of  day  for  lying  long  in  bed. 

Your  coat  is  made,  you  button  it,  give  one  spasmodic  cough, 

And  do  not  draw  another  breath  until  you  take  it  off. 

You've  heard  of  senators  who  make  a  speech  in  great  haste, 

And  long  for  what  they  mention,   the   Cadet's   small   "  wasp-like 

waist." 

How  singular  the  conduct  of  these  wisdom-bearing  herds! 
If  waists  are  to  be  laughed  at,  it  should  be  their  waste  of  words. 

July  the  Fourth  at  last  arrives  —  you  think  it  rather  hard  — 
When  on  this  day  of  Liberty,  the  "  Plebes  "  must  go  on  guard. 


186  WEST  POINT 

You  go  on  post,  the  night  arrives,  you  scarcely  are  alive, 
But  still  a  lonely  watch  you're  keeping  down  on  "  No.  5." 
First  you  like  this  quiet  post,  the  path's  so  nicely  leveled; 
Soon  you  share  the  fate  of  ham  —  that  is,  you're  nicely  "  deviled." 
Bodies  vast  of  men  approach,  and  sound  their  rude  alarms; 
From  divers  punches  you  receive,  you  find  they  all  have  arms. 
Baggage  wagons,  ropes,  and  ghosts  upon  your  post  appear; 
Teeth  begin  to  chatter,  though  of  course  it's  not  through  fear. 
A  spirit  white  you  seize  upon  and  hold  it  on  your  post 
Until  the  corporal  arrives,  when  you  give  up  the  ghost. 
When  in  a  one-wheeled  cart  you  fall  that's  moving  up  behind, 
To  rapidly  desert  your  post  you're  forcibly  inclined. 

A  storm  conies  up,  the  rain  comes  down  and   soaks  your  thin, 

white  pants; 
You    think   they    might    find    better    work   for   "  tender   hothouse 

plants." 

Now  if  your  pants  were  made  of  cloth,  you  wouldn't  care  a  shilling; 
But,  like  your  summer  afternoons,  they're  all  made  up  of  drilling. 
Then  you  say  you  shall  resign  —  your  father  says  you  shan't; 
You've  entered  once  the  tented  field  and  never  shall  decamp. 
Resolving  then  to  be  content,  there's  no  more  hesitation  — 
You  find  most  satisfaction  in  this  kind  of  resignation; 
Spartan-like,  you  stay  until  encampment  has  an  end; 
In  this  period  you  find  your  times  begin  to  mend. 
When  in  the  art  of  soldiery  you've  once  become  adepts, 
You  welcome  with  a  joyous  smile  the  coming  of  the  "  Seps."* 
Those  that  come  before  the  time  are  pre-cepts  for  the  rest. 
Who  wait  outside  till  camp  breaks  up,  and  think  the  barracks  best. 
The  first  who  come  walk  into  camp  with  quite  a  lordly  step, 
For  where  is  found  more  dignity  than  in  an  August  "Sep."? 

The  noted  "Twenty-ninth"  arrives  and  crowds  of  folks  attend; 
For  camp,  like  all  things  save  a  hoop,  you  find  must  have  an  end. 
Our  honored  General-in-Chief  is  there  to  see  the  sights, 
*  Appointments  in  September. 


WEST  POINT  LIFE  187 

Whose  valiant  arm  so  often  won  the  victory  in  our  fights. 
Some  drummers  come,  all  armed  with  sticks;  you  know  there'll  be 

a  fray; 

They've  come  to  "  beat  the  General,"  you  plainly  hear  them  say. 
Base  cowards!  you  think,  thus  to  attack  a  man  of  such  great  fame, 
You'll  go  and  warn  him  of  their  threat,  immortalize  your  name. 
Running  through  the  crowd  in  breathless  haste,  at  last  you  meet 

him, 

Whisper  there's  a  mutiny  —  some  men  have  come  to  beat  him. 
He  thinks  you  joke.     Bad  joke,  says  you,  that's  given  you  such 

bother; 
Pats  your  head,  and  says,  "  You'll  be  a  man  before  your  mother." 

Camp's  broken  up,  you're  broken  down;  you've  come  to  the  belief 
You'd  like  to  always  be  on  guard,  for  there  is  a  relief. 
Filled  with  joys  of  barrack  life,  a  letter  home  you  send; 
Soon  you  find,  "  Of  making  many  books  there  is  no  end." 
Much  study  too  you  must  admit,  when  starting  out  afresh, 
Although  you  call  it  "  boning,"  is  quite  weary  to  the  flesh. 
You  meet  new  hardships  every  day,  yourself  you  are  beside; 
You  get  a  problem  in  "  Descriptive  "  which  you  can't  describe. 
You  go  to  fencing,  and  we'd  think,  from  punches,  wounds,  and 

scars, 

That  you  could  kill  as  many  men  as  can  the  Erie  cars. 
That  this  will  be  no  use  to  you,  you  often  make  complaint, 
Save  at  examination,  when  you  want  to  try  a  feint. 
Or  when  you  try  to  "bugle  it"  he  will  not  wait  on  Benz; 
You  look  at  your  instructor  and  would  like  to  take  offense  (a  fence). 
They  put  you  in  the  "  Nursery,"  that  is  in  Company  "  B," 
In  January,   many  children  foundlings*  prove  to  be. 
Those  who  leave,  excuses  make,  and  one  will  say,  though  smarter 
Than  half  the  fellows  in  his  class,  they  did  not  make  him  marker. 
Others  say  the  board's  too  high,  take  vessels  in  the  offing, 
Cruise  in  the  Gulf,  since  men-of-war  are  boarded  there  for  nothing. 
*  Found  deficients. 


188  WEST  POINT 

You  weather  through  the  year,  and  find  that  June's  not  very  far, 

Which  finally  arrives,  and  you  a  "  Plebe  "  no  longer  are. 

To  leave  your  gloomy  barrack  rooms  you're   summoned  by  the 

drum, 
And  many  hearts  beat  high  to  think  Third  Class   encampment's 

come, 

When  you  find  you  all  are  men  and  are  no  longer  babies, 
Think  you  must  devote  your  whole  attention  to  the  ladies. 
Go  to  hops,  those  charming  hops,  where  all  is  so  exciting, 
Sashes  red  and  buttons  bright,  black  eyes  that  shoot  forth  lightning. 
As  thus  you  pass  your  life  away,  of  death  you've  not  a  fear, 
Though  every  one  should  surely  know  'tis  hops  that  fill  the  bier. 
You  give  a  girl  your  buttons,  lace;  at  last  you  throw  your  heart  in; 
You  little  think  what  flames  will  rise  when  first  you  go  out  sparkin'. 
An  angel  dressed  in  crinoline  you  to  her  side  now  becks, 
As  she  must  still  remain  "  unknown,"  we'll  have  to  call  her  "  X." 
She  occupies  one-half  the  room,  the  space  is  more  than  fair, 
If  radius  we  call  large  R,  the  area's   JT  R2. 

The  rustle  of  her  dress  alone  would  charm  ten  thousand  troops, 
Much  pleasanter  the  sound  than  that  of  wild  Comanche  whoops. 
You  blush  whene'er  "  X  "  looks  at  you  from  out  that  mass  of  lace, 
Which  proves  that  "  X  "  must  enter  the  "  expression  "  of  your  face. 
The  music  starts,  you  gently  take  her  in  your  arms.    What  bliss! 
You  now  can  say  you  have  your  "  X  "  in  a  parenthesis. 
"  Faster  still,"  she  whispers,  though  you're  giddy  and  half  sick; 
Your    heart  which  once   kept  "  common    time,"   now  moves  at 

"  double  quick." 

Faster  yet  you're  going  round,  ten  "  X's  "  now  you  see; 
She  hugs  you  with  her  sleeveless  arms  till  you  cry,  "  Bare  with  me." 
To  get  yourself  from  her  embrace  you'd  now  give  fifty  farms; 
Says  she,  "  Since  you're  a  soldier,  you  shall  have  sir,  two  bare  arms  " 

(to  bear  arms). 

Your  head's  becoming  dizzier,  you  stagger  a  good  deal, 
And  what  was  started  as  a  waltz  is  ending  in  a  reel. 
Sash  conies  down,  she  steps  on  it,  to  fall  is  now  your  doom, 
And  knock  down  nine  militia  generals  standing  in  the  room. 


WEST  POINT  LIFE  189 

All  rush  madly  from  the  room,  "  X  "  is  "  eliminated." 

To  marry  her  you're  half  inclined ;  "  Shall  you  not  or  shall  you  ?  " 

Half  the  night  you  lie  awake  discussing  "  X's  "  value. 

Next  day  you  take  a  walk  with  her  around  the  famed  "  Flirtation; " 

Find  her  all  false  hair,  false  teeth,  false  smiles,  and  affectation. 

That  she  may  have  an  honest  heart  is  still  your  earnest  prayer, 

But  soon  you  find  the  heart  no  better  than  the  teeth  and  hair. 

While  swearing  that  you  love  her  and  appreciate  her  charms, 

You  tell  her  you're  a  soldier;  she  says,  "  But  a  child  in  arms." 

Others  come,  and  better  ones,  who  stop  at  the  hotel. 

Oh!  what  a  tale  of  broken  hearts  that  old  north  stoop  could  tell! 

Then  come  little  presents  of  a  'kerchief,  ribbons,  gloves, 

And  what  is  prized  above  the  rest,  they  often  give  their  loves. 

Some  who  sew  on  handkerchiefs,  what  shall  we  say  of  them? 

When  questioned  what  they're  working  at,  will  simply  say  "A-hem." 

Another  "Twenty-ninth"  arrives;  the  camp  again  is  struck; 

This  time  you  go  out  quietly,  and  have  much  better  luck. 

To  breaking  up  the  scenes  of  camp  you've  serious  objections, 

For  ladies,  hops,  "  Flirtation  "  walks,  give  place  to  conic  sections. 

Troubles  do  not  leave  you  here;  you  must  have  some  of  course; 

Strange  as  you  may  think  it,  you  must  learn  to  ride  a  horse. 

You  have  read  of  bold  dragoons  that  every  danger  scoff; 

Stories  do  not  speak,  alas!  of  troopers  falling  off. 

Nothing  on  your  feet  but  shoes,  the  horses  bare-backed  all, 

How  will  ever  you  obey  the  "Boots  and  Saddle  call?" 

Many  books  have  you  toiled  through,  all  written  by  great  sages; 

Do  not  you  deserve  a  pair,  if  spurs  are  won  by  pages? 

Now  you  "stand  to  horse,"  and  say  you'll  not  get  in  a  fright; 

Still  you  ask  a  soldier  if  he  thinks  your  horse  will  bite. 

Then  you  mount,  a  thing  that  you  before  have  never  tried; 

Make  a  mighty  effort  —  landing  on  the  other  side. 

Finally  you   get  your  seat,  the  other  troopers  follow; 

Horse's  back's  a  catenary,  you  are  in  the  hollow. 

When  seated  in  this  valley,  the  instructor's  heard  to  say, 

Like  Joseph  to  his  brethren,  "  Do  not  fall  out,  by  the  way." 


190  WEST  POINT 

Horses  move,  the  riders  too,  and  things  look  queer  to  you; 

Seldom  have  you  seen  the  world  from  such  a  point  of  view. 

And  when  your  horse  begins  to  trot,  you  think  he's  not  so  tame; 

You're  not  much  of  a  rider,  but  a  good  boy  in  the  mane. 

Reaching  back,  you  make  a  grab,  and  clinch  with  every  nail; 

Think  you'd  be  relieved  to  have  the  burden  of  his  tail. 

Speed  increases,  though  you  pull;  they  say  "  It's  all  your  fault,  sir!  " 

Can't  call  this  a  bridle  tour,  before  you  is  the  (h)  alter. 

Your  instructor  sees  you  bounce  until  your  cheeks  look  floppy, 

Thinks  you've  ridden  on  the  course,  how  nicely  you  can  "  jockey." 

Looking  round,  you  see  your  friends  are  now  disposed  to  banter; 

Think  you'll  get  another  horse;  yours  doesn't  pace  nor  canter. 

Suddenly  he  takes  the  gallop;  horrors!!!  what  a  motion! 

Movement  comes  from  front  to  rear  like  waves  upon  the  ocean. 

Soon  you're  told  he  gallops  wrong,  to  make  him  change  the  step; 

Teach  him  then  as  you've  been  taught,  by  loudly  crying  "  Hep!" 

All  your  efforts  are  in  vain,  and  forth  your  mutterings  burst; 

Still  looking  out  for  "  No.  I,"  he  "  puts  his  best  foot  first," 

And  by  using  gentle  means  his  favor  can't  be  courted; 

Wonder  why,  instead  of  you,  the  horse  is  not  reported. 

Getting  sea-sick,  now  you  roll  from  one  side  to  the  other; 

How  you  wish  you'd  never  left  the  fireside  of  your  mother. 

A  whip  is  cracked,  the  horse's  head  goes  down,  and  you  go  up, 

And  from  the  rate  of  travel  think  that  in  the  skies  you'll  sup. 

Up  you  go  till  near  the  roof,  but  do  not  reach  the  skies; 

Think  you  are  an  aeronaut,  but  surely  are  not  Wise. 

What  goes  up  comes  down  again,  and  you  with  looks  not  placid, 

Are  making  crude  experiments  in  tasting  tannic  acid. 

A  spring,  some  call  this,  some  a  fall,  and  some  a  summer-set; 

A  seasonable  joke  is  heard  to  come  from  each  cadet. 

Limping  out,  you  start  for  home,  and  think  you've  earned  your 

salary ; 

Meet  with  sympathizing  looks  from  ladies  in  the  gallery. 
With  your  lady  friends  up  there  you've  fallen  half  in  love; 
All  Cadets  have  learned  to  set  their  hearts  on  "  things  above." 
To  take  a  gallop  in  the  hall  again  you  would  not  dare, 


WEST  POINT  LIFE  191 

Although  you  would  not  hesitate  to  take  a  gal  up  there. 
Some  will  say  that's  riding's  fun;  such  views  you  can't  indorse; 
Say  you'll  never  ride  again  save  on  a  hobby  horse. 

Now  you  think  of  other  things,  for  home  you  soon  will  go, 

That  period  of  bliss  to  spend  that's  called  Cadet  furlough. 

Furlough  clothes  you  then  get  on,  demerit  you  get  off; 

Donning  thus  a  suit  of  blue,  the  gray  you  gladly  doff. 

When  you've  reached  the  city,  and  arrived  at  your  hotel, 

Heedless  of  expenses,  you  are  bound  to  "  cut  a  swell." 

See  a  classmate  followed  round  by  boys,  at  least  a  score; 

Say  he  shan't  surpass  you,  so  you  hire  twenty  more. 

If  his  train  of  little  boys  has  each  a  dirty  face, 

Make  your  own  roll  in  the  mud,  determined  to  keep  pace. 

Though  you  know  your  leave  is  not  to  leave  the  States,  you  do, 

Heedless  of  the  consequences,  Jersey  you  pass  through. 

Hurrying  along  as  happy  as  a  man  can  be, 

Never  do  you  stop  until  your  cherished  home  you  see. 

Home!  the  dear  old  place  whence  all  your  boyish  pleasures  came, 

Who  is  there  so  base  as  not  to  bless  the  sacred  name? 

When  at  last  you  enter,  and  are  by  the  family  met, 

With  kisses,  sobs,  embraces,   smiles  you're  instantly  beset. 

Now  you  first  appreciate  this  serving  Uncle  Sam; 
Urchins  in  the  street  all  cry,  "  Oh!  there's  a  soger  man." 
Meeting  some  old  fogy  friends,  they  say,  "Why,  how  d'ye  do? 
Tell  us  how  at  Western  P'int  they  put  you  fellers  through." 
"Well,"  you  say,  "it  is  but  right  that  of  it  I  should  speak; 
Laboring  both  day  and  night,  we  eat  but  once  a  week. 
Then  the  fare  at  mess  is  such  that  when  we  get  our  share, 
Cattle  could  not  eat  it;  you  can  scarcely  call  it  fair. 
They  load  us  in  a  cannon  if  in  ranks  we  do  but  cough, 
Saying,  when  they  light  the  match,  '  This  time  we'll  let  you  off.'  " 
Thinking  you're  from  Utah,  an  old  lady  at  you  sings, 
"Were  you  badly  wounded  at  the  fight  at  Eutaw  Springs?" 
Ladies  make  large  parties,  each  an  invitation   sends; 


192  WEST  POINT 

You're  engaged  to  twenty-seven  when  the  summer  ends. 

Just  before  you  leave,  the  twenty-seven  round  you  close, 

Begging  for  a  lock  of  hair,  a  button  off  your  clothes. 

What  a  fright!!!     You've  yielded  to  the  charming  twenty-seven  — 

Buttonless  your  coat,  no  hair  between  your  head  and  heaven. 

Coat  is  ruined,  buttons  gone  —  no  matter,  let  it  pass; 

Never  were  there  women  seen  with  such  supplies  of  brass. 

Furlough  now  is  nearly  gone,  and  back  you  take  your  way, 

Feeling  that  to  melancholy  you've  become  a  prey. 

Furlough  time  is  soon  forgot,  that  life  of  wild  romance, 

Though  often  do  you  feel  for  missing  pockets  in  your  pants. 

Painting  now  you  undertake,  although  in  fifty  cases 
Your  instructor  asks  you  why  you  will  paint  female  faces. 
When   you   ask   what   paints   to   use,   with   countenance   growing 

sadder, 
Though  he  sees  you  now  are  mad,  he  tells  you  to  get  madder  (a 

paint). 

You  give  your  brush  a  dab  in  any  color  you  can  find, 
Destroying  both  your  piece  of  painting  and  your  peace  of  mind. 
Now  you  find  astronomy  included  in  your  course, 
Though  it's  of  the  greatest  use,  of  trouble  it's  the  source. 
Here  you  learn  a  thousand  things  unknown  in  the  past; 
Thought  the  Earth  went  slowly  'round,  but,  now  you  find  it's  fast. 
Though  there're  mountains  in  the  moon,  of  trees  there's  not  a  mark, 
Save  when  dogs  look  at  it,  when  we  often  notice  bark. 
Soon,  alas!  you  feel  within  you  all  your  former  dread, 
When  you're  told  that  with  your  sabre  you  must  cut  a  head. 
Others  cut  at  those  on  posts  that  fall  without  a  groan; 
You,  who  scorn  such  artifice,  would  rather  cut  your  own. 
Making  once  a  mighty  cut,  you  pay  for  it  quite  dear; 
Horse  and  you  both  tumble  down,  though  holding  by  his  ear. 
When  you  rise  you  find  that  this  is  rather  a  bad  throw, 
Limping  from  the  hall,  to  the  hospital  you  must  go. 
Though  such  hospital-ity  you  hate,  you  have  to  try  it, 


WEST  POINT  LIFE  193 

Saying  you  can't  live  it  through,  they  tell  you  you  must  diet. 
Here  you  stay  till  muster  day,  with  many  others  clustered  — 
Matrons,  stewards,  attendants,  like  your  blisters  then  are  mustered. 

Soon  you're  out,  for  wounds  like  these  cannot  your  ardor  damp; 
Then  we  find  you  entering  the  famous  First  Class  Camp. 
Last  encampment!  what  a  sound!  there's  magic  in  the  word! 
But  you're  now  so  dignified  rejoicing  were  absurd. 
You  become  a  creature  who  must  henceforth  be  a  star, 
Not  approached  by  common  men,  but  gazed  at  from  afar. 
Knowledge  vast  is  in  your  brain  —  you  know  what  "  enfilade  "  is, 
How  to  get  ten  "  lates  "  a  day,  and  how  to  please  the  ladies. 
Frist  Class  Camp,  that  trying  time!  you  scarcely  would  believe  it; 
He's  indeed  a  lucky  man  who  unengaged  can  leave  it. 
Soon  you're  smitten  with  a  face,  for  you  now  comes  the  rub; 
How  you  wish  a  month  before  you'd  joined  the  "  Bachelor  Club." 
Graceful  form,  coquettish   smiles,  she  cannot  help  exposing; 
Do  not  think  I  mean  to  joke  by  saying  she's  imposing. 
She  swears  by  all  the  gods  of  love  she'll  smile  on  none  but  you, 
Say  all  this  in  innocence,  which  in-no-sense  is  true. 
Soon  she  leaves;  with  tearful  eyes  you  see  her  to  the  carriage, 
Looking  in  the  "  Herald,"  two  weeks  after,  there's  her  marriage. 
Finally  the  camp  breaks  up;  you  say  farewell  to  tents; 
Leaving  such  a  dwelling-house  no  soldier  e'er  repents. 

Barrack  life  again  commenced,  you  exercise  your  skill, 
In  finding  out  the  surest  means  your  fellow  men  to  kill. 
Treat  a  foe  humanely,  you  are  told,  though  try  to  beat; 
If  to  treat  he  should  refuse,  you  never  must  re-treat. 
What  a  sight,  from  stooping  over  desks,  you  now  present! 
You,  who  once  were  so  erect,  are  now  on  study  bent. 

Soon  a  longing  for  excitement  in  your  bosom  dwells, 
Think  you'd  like  to  "  run  it,"  so  you  take  a  trip  to  "  Spell's." 
You  suppose  there's  little  danger  that  the  road  is  clear, 
Till  you  meet  an  officer;  there's  then  some  cause  for  fear. 
He  seizes  you,  you  lose  all  power,  and  stand  fixed  to  the  ground, 
13 


194  WEST  POINT 

He  asks  you  what  you're  doing  there,  you  tell  him  you're  Spell- 
bound. 

Home  you  go,  for  on  this  subject  no  more  hints  you  need; 
Punishment  you  know  will  follow  closely  on  the  deed. 

Anxious  thoughts  are  soon  dispelled,  and  now  you  change  your 

tune, 

Thinking  only  of  the  fact,  "  You'll  graduate  in  June." 
You  get  measured  for  your  clothes,  a  bran  new  uniform, 
Three  times  a  day  you  try  it  on;  evening,  noon,  and  morn. 
You  get  a  regulation  hat,  a  sabre,  too,  and  belt, 
The  hat  you  find  is  like  the  want  of  beauty  in  it  —  felt; 
One  regret  you  deeply  feel,  you  still  have  no  mustache, 
Though  on  your  upper  lip  you've  used  'most  every  kind  of  trash. 
Some  friends  pronounced  tricopherous  the  best  they  ever  saw, 
You  seize  upon  it  like  a  drowning  man  upon  a  straw. 

The  last  three  months  seem  like  a  year,  how  slowly  time  does  fly! 

You  find  it  only  April  when  it  ought  to  be  July. 

June  at  last  arrives,  which  is  to  end  your  labors  here; 

You're  to  get  a  "  parchment "  of  all  things  to  you  most  dear. 

The  Board  will  rise  'midst  banners,  flags,  and  your  diplomas  hand 

ye, 

With  "  Hail  Columbia,"  "  Auld  Lang  Syne,"  and  "  Yankee  Doodle 

Dandy." 

Joy  intoxicates  you,  all  your  sorrows  now  have  fled, 
Scarcely  do  you  know  if  you  are  on  your  heels  or  head. 
The  day  arrives  which  has  so  often  many  happy  made, 
When  you  put  on  your  "  fixings  "  to  attend  your  last  parade. 
How  proud  you  feel  when  marching  to  the  "  Sergeant   Dashing 

White," 
And   when  upon  your  "  winding  way,"  you're  prouder  still  that 

night. 
You  say  to  all  your  friends  from  whom  yourself  you  now  must 

tear, 

If  of  your  home  they  come  within  two  miles,  they  must  stop  there. 
A  parting  word,  a  warm  embrace  you  give  to  each  classmate, 
And  bid  the  Point  a  long  farewell,  a  happy  GRADUATE. 


THE  BATTLE  MONUMENT. 
'  Dead  upon  the  field  of  honor.") 


BENNY  HAVENS,  OH  ! 

Years  ago,  Benny  Havens  was  a  seller  of  contrabands 
to  cadets,  such  as  cakes,  ale,  and  liquors,  and  this  in 
violation  of  the  rules  of  the  Academy. 

He  was  expelled  from  the  post  of  West  Point  and 
later  established  himself  in  a  small  cottage  at  the  base 
of  the  high  cliff  at  Highland  Falls,  quite  near  the  river. 

This  was  a  favorite  resort  of  the  cadets  "  after  taps," 
but  the  risk  of  these  nocturnal  visits  was  great  indeed, 
since  the  punishment  was  dismissal  if  caught  on  this 
venture. 

Lieutenant  O'Brien  of  the  Eighth  United  States  In- 
fantry with  others  composed  the  song  of  "  Benny 
Havens,  Oh!"  set  to  the  tune  of  "Wearing  of  the 
Green."  The  original  five  verses  have  been  added  to 
from  time  to  time  to  commemorate  the  dead  or  the 
heroes  of  wars: 

BENNY   HAVENS,   OH! 
AIR  —  Wearing  of  the  Green. 

A   SONG  THAT  IS   SUNG  BY  THE  SOLDIERS   OF  UNCLE  SAM. 

COME,  fill  your  glasses,  fellows,  and  stand  up  in  a  row; 
To  singing  sentimentally,  we're  going  for  to  go; 
In  the  army  there's  sobriety,  promotion's  very  slow, 
So  we'll  sing  our  reminiscences  of  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!  Benny  Havens,  oh!     Oh!  Benny  Havens,  oh! 
So  we'll  sing  our  reminiscences  of  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

195 


196  WEST  POINT 

Now  Roe's  Hotel's  a  perfect  "  fess,"  and  Cozzens's  all  the  go, 
And  officers  as  thick  as  hops  infest  "  The  Falls  "  below; 
But  we'll  slip  them  all  so  quietly,  as  once  a  week  we  go 
To  toast  the  lovely  flower  that  blooms  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

Let  us  toast  our  foster-father,  the  Republic,  as  you  know, 

Who  in  the  paths  of  science  taught  us  upward  for  to  go; 

And  the  maiden  of  our  native  land,  whose  cheeks  like  roses  glow, 

They're  oft  remembered  in  our  cups,  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!  Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

To  the  ladies  of  the  Empire  State  whose  hearts  and  albums  too, 
Bear  sad  remembrance  of  the  wrongs  we  stripling  soldiers  do, 
We  bid  a  fond  adieu,  my  boys;  our  hearts  with  sorrow  flow; 
Our  loves  and  rhyming  had  their  source  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!  Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

And  when  in  academic  halls,  to  summer  hops  we  go, 
And  tread  the  mazes  of  the  dance  on  the  light  fantastic  toe, 
We  look  into  those  sunny  eyes,  where  youth  and  pleasure  glow, 
And  think  ourselves  within  the  walls  of  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!  Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

To  the  ladies  of  the  orange  clime,  let  all  our  bumpers  flow; 
Who  dares  gainsay  their  peerless  charms  must  take  a  knightly  blow. 
We'll  throw  the  gauntlet  in  their  cause  and  taunt  the  soulless  foe 
Who  hesitates  to  drink  to  them  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!  Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

Of  the  lovely  maids  with  virgin  laps  like  roses  dipped  in  dew, 
Who  are  to  be  our  better  halves,  we'd  like  to  take  a  view. 
But  sufficient  to  the  bridal  day  is  the  ill  of  it,  you  know, 
So  we'll  cheer  our  hearts  with  chorusing  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 


BENNY   HAVENS,   OH!  197 

To  the  ladies  of  our  Army  our  cups  shall  ever  flow, 
Companions  of  our  exile,  and  our  shield  'gainst  every  woe; 
May  they  see  their  husbands  Generals,  with  double  pay  also, 
And  join  us  in  our  choruses  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

'Tis  said  by  commentators,  when  to  other  worlds  we  go, 
We  follow  the  same  handicraft  we  did  in  this  below; 
If  this  be  true  philosophy  —  the  sexton  he  says  "  No!  " — 
What  days  of  song  and  dance  we'll  have  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

Come  fill  up  to  our  Generals,  God  bless  the  brave  heroes, 
They're  an  honor  to  their  country,  and  a  terror  to  their  foes; 
May  they  long  rest  on  their  laurels,  and  trouble  never  know, 
But  live  to  see  a  thousand  years  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

Here's  a  health  to  General  Taylor,  whose  "  rough  and  ready  "  blow 
Struck  terror  to  the  rancheros  of  braggart  Mexico; 
May  his  country  ne'er  forget  his  deeds,  and  ne'er  forget  to  show 
She  holds  him  worthy  of  a  place  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

To  the  "  veni,  vidi,  vici "  man,  to  Scott,  the  great  hero, 
Fill  up  the  goblet  to  the  brim,  let  no  one  shrinking  go; 
May  life's  cares  on  his  honored  head  fall  light  as  flakes  of  snow, 
And  his  fair  fame  be  ever  great  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

From  the  courts  of  death  and  danger,  from  Tampa's  deadly  shore, 
There  comes  a  wail  of  manly  grief,  "  O'Brien  is  no  more;  " 
In  the  land  of  sun  and  flowers  his  head  lies  pillowed  low, 
No  more  he'll  sing  "  Petite  Coquette,"  or  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 


198  WEST  POINT 

To  the  Army's  brave  commanders  let  now  our  glasses  flow, 
We'll  drink  to  Grant  and  Sherman,  and  to  the  "  subs  "  also, 
To  Thomas,  Meade,  and  Sheridan  (these  come  in  apropos); 
We'll  toast  them  all  with  goblets  full,  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!  Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

'Tis  a  proverb  that  "  Republics  to  their  veterans  thankless  grow," 

And  to  youth  of  service  oft  awards  only  an  age  of  woe; 

But  if  a  lowly  station  most  honor  doth  bestow, 

Give  me  the  one  now  occupied  by  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

To  our  regiments,  now,  fellows,  we  all  must  shortly  go, 
And  look  as  sage  as  parsons  when  they  talk  of  what's  below; 
We  must  cultivate  the  graces,  do  everything  "  just  so," 
And  never  speak  to  ears  polite  of  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

Let  us  remember,  comrades,  when  to  our  posts  we  go, 
The  ties  that  must  be  cut  in  twain,  as  o'er  life's  sea  we  row; 
Hearts  that  now  throb  in  unison  must  moulder  down  below, 
So  let  us  take  a  parting  cup  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!  Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

To  our  comrades  who  have  fallen,  one  cup  before  we  go, 
They  poured  their  life  blood  freely  out  pro  bono  publico; 
No  marble  points  the  stranger  to  where  they  rest  below, 
They  lie  neglected  far  away  from  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

You  veterans  on  the  "  half-pay  list "  in  quiet  ease  should  go, 
And  suffer  us  subalterns  up  a  grade  or  two  to  row; 
Award  each  State  a  regiment  of  regulars,  you  know  — 
Their  officers  are  chosen  ones  from  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 


BENNY   HAVENS,  OH!  199 

May  we  never  lack  a  smile  for  friend,  nor  stern  heart  for  a  foe; 
May  all  our  paths  be  pleasantness  wherever  we  may  go; 
May  our  "  muster-rolls  "  in  after  years  report  in  statu  quo, 
And  goodly  samples  ever  bring  from  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

May  the  Army  be  augmented,  promotion  be  less  slow; 
May  our  country  in  the  hour  of  need  be  ready  for  the  foe; 
May  we  find  a  soldier's  resting-place  beneath  a  soldier's  blow, 
With  space  enough  beside  our  graves  for  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

When  you  and  I,  and  Benny,  and  all  the  others,  too, 
Are  called  before  the  "  final  board  "  our  course  of  life  to  view, 
May  we  never  "  fess  "  on  any  point,  but  straight  be  told  to  go 
And  join  the  Army  of  the  Blest  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

Another  star  has  faded,  we  miss  its  brilliant  glow, 
For  the  veteran  Scott  has  ceased  to  be  a  soldier  here  below; 
And  the  country  which  he  honored  now  feels  a  heartfelt  woe, 
As  we  toast  his  name  in  reverence  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!  Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

To  our  kind  old  Alma  Mater,  our  rock-bound  Highland  home, 
We'll  cast  back  many  a  fond  regret,  as  o'er  life's  sea  we  roam, 
Until  on  our  last  battlefield  the  lights  of  heaven  shall  glow, 
We'll  never  fail  to  drink  to  her  and  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

And  if  amid  the  battle  shock  our  banner  e'er  should  trail, 
And  hearts  that  beat  beneath  its  folds  shall  faint  or  basely  fail, 
Then  may  some  son  of  Benny's  with  quick  avenging  blow, 
Lift  up  the  flag  we  loved  so  well  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 


200  WEST  POINT 

When  this  life's  troubled  sea  is  o'er,  and  our  last  battle's  through, 
If  God  permits  us  mortals  then  His  blest  domain  to  view, 
Then  shall  we  see  with  glory  crowned,  in  proud  celestial  row, 
The  friends  we've  known  and  loved  so  well  at  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  o"h!  etc. 

Here's  a  cup  to  brave  McKinney,  and  all  who  like  him  die; 
Their  souls  upon  the  battle  smoke  ascend  the  upper  sky. 
May  the  angels  there  attend  him  and  show  him  where  to  go, 
And  join  his  comrades  gone  before,  with  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

In  silence  lift  your  glasses:     A  meteor  flashes  out. 

So  swift  to  death  brave  Custer,  amid  the  battle's  shout 

Death  called  —  and,  crowned,  he  went  to  join  the  friends  of  long 

ago 
To  the  land  of  Peace,  where  now  he  dwells  with  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!  Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

We  drop  a  tear  for  Harrington,  and  his  comrades,  Custer's  braves, 
Who  fell  with  none  to  see  the  deeds  that  glorified  their  graves. 
May  their  memories  live  forever  with  their  glory's  present  glow; 
They've  nobly  earned  the  right  to  dwell  with  Benny  Havens,  oh! 

Oh!   Benny  Havens,  oh!  etc. 

SEQUEL. 

COME,  fellows,  let  us  join  once  more,  ere  to  our  homes  we  go, 
And  give  a  parting  requiem  to  "Benny  Havens,  oh!" 
Our  fathers  worship'd  at  his  shrine  in  days  long,  long  ago, 
Then  why  should  we,  their  faithful  sons,  not  love  our  "Havens, 
oh!" 

The  spirit  of  the  olden  grey,  with  boysv  'tis  folly,  true; 

But  then  it  proves  "  Esprit  de  Corps"  when  clothed  in  Army  blue. 

Then  in  the  path  our  fathers  trod  let  us  not  fail  to  go, 

If  it  lead  to  fame  and  glory,  or  "  Benny  Havens,  oh!  " 


BENNY   HAVENS,   OH!  201 

Their  names  shall  sacred  to  us  be  for  deeds  done  long  ago; 
For  they  are  graved  with  gold  and  red  on  azure  blue,  you  know; 
And  as  on  us  their  mantles  fell,  our  gratitude  we'll  show, 
By  life  remembrances  of  them  and  "  Benny  Havens,  oh !  " 

Genial  Barbour,  brave  Mudge  and  Inge,  oft  went  through  drifted 

snow, 

To  have  an  hour's  pleasant  chat,  and  make  the  spirits  flow; 
Clay,  Crittenden,  and  legions  more,  could  never  give  a  NO, 
When  asked  to  share  the  friendly  cheer  of  "Benny  Havens,  oh!" 

Did  Ringgold's  flying  battery  e'er  make  its  aim  too  low  — 
Did  Duncan's  ready  howitzers  e'er  fail  to  reach  the  foe  — 
Did  Canby  brave,  or  Custer  bold,  e'er  dread  Modoc  or  Sioux  — 
Because  of  dark  or  moonlight  raids  on  "  Benny  Havens,  oh?  " 

From  Nevada's  hoary  ridges,  from  stormy  coast  of  Maine, 
From  lava  beds  and  Yellowstone  the  story  never  waned; 
Wherever  duty  called  they  went,  their  steps  were  never  slow  — 
With  "  ALMA  MATER"  on  their  lips,  and  "  Benny  Havens,  oh!  " 

Their  blood  has  water'd  Western  plains,  and  Northern  wilds  of 

snow, 

Has  stained  Sierra's  highest  peaks,  where  piercing  winds  e'er  blow; 
Has  dyed  deep  red  the  Everglades,  and  deeper  still,  you  know, 
The  sacred  Montezuma  shades  and  walls  of  Mexico. 

But  now  the  soften'd  summer  winds  come  whispering  to  us  low 
That  HE  of  whom  we  oft  have  sung,  Death's  hand  lies  on  his  brow! 
These  granite  hills  surrounding  us,  by  sun  all  set  aglow, 
To  THEM,  are  guardian  angels,  and  to  "BENNY  HAVENS,  OH!'V*» . 


A     000  676  877     4 


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